Stiles's Tapaculo
Encyclopedia
Stiles's Tapaculo is a member of the tapaculo
s, a group of Neotropical bird
s. It was described as new to science
in 2005.
It has been found at 21 sites in montane forest between 1,420 and 2,130 m altitude in the northern Cordillera Central
of the Colombia
n Andes
; although having a restricted range, within this limited area it is a common understorey bird. Initiually, it seemed as if the species would classify as Near Threatened (Cuervo et al. 2005), but it turned out to be more plentiful and thus is classified as species of Least Concern in the 2007 IUCN Red List
.
The species was originally observed in the 1990s, but when Niels Krabbe
examined recordings of their songs, his suspicions arose that they were a new species - Stiles's Tapaculo's song is considerably faster and lower-pitched than that of the closely related Ecuadorian Tapaculo
S. robbinsi (Cuervo et al. 2005).
The species was named in honour of Frank Gary Stiles, an ornithologist who played a prominent role in research into Neotropical birds in the 1980s and 1990s.
Tapaculo
The tapaculos are a group of small suboscine passeriform birds with numerous species, found mainly in South America and with the highest diversity in the Andean regions...
s, a group of Neotropical bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s. It was described as new to science
Bird species new to science
This article describes bird species new to science since 1900. Prior to the 20th century, and indeed into its early decades, the pace of discovery of new species was fast; during this period, with numerous collecting expeditions into species-rich areas not previously visited by western...
in 2005.
It has been found at 21 sites in montane forest between 1,420 and 2,130 m altitude in the northern Cordillera Central
Cordillera Central, Colombia
The Cordillera Central range is one of the three branches of ridges in the Andes Mountains that split in southern Colombia towards the north up to the Montes de Maria....
of the Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
n Andes
Andes
The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
; although having a restricted range, within this limited area it is a common understorey bird. Initiually, it seemed as if the species would classify as Near Threatened (Cuervo et al. 2005), but it turned out to be more plentiful and thus is classified as species of Least Concern in the 2007 IUCN Red List
IUCN Red List
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species...
.
The species was originally observed in the 1990s, but when Niels Krabbe
Niels Krabbe
Niels Kaare Krabbe is an ornithologist and bird conservationist based at the Vertebrate Department of the Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen, researching various aspects of ornithology, especially bioacoustics and conservation; systematics and altitudinal replacements of Scytalopus...
examined recordings of their songs, his suspicions arose that they were a new species - Stiles's Tapaculo's song is considerably faster and lower-pitched than that of the closely related Ecuadorian Tapaculo
Ecuadorian Tapaculo
The El Oro Tapaculo or Ecuadorian Tapaculo is a small passerine bird belonging to the genus Scytalopus, a genus of tapaculos. It is restricted to a small area of southern Ecuador and was not described until 1997....
S. robbinsi (Cuervo et al. 2005).
The species was named in honour of Frank Gary Stiles, an ornithologist who played a prominent role in research into Neotropical birds in the 1980s and 1990s.