Streaked Tuftedcheek

Andean Crested ear ( Pseudocolaptes boissonneautii )

The Andean Crested ear ( Pseudocolaptes boissonneautii ), sometimes also called White-cheeked Astspäher, a species of bird in the family of potters birds ( Furnariidae ). The species has a large distribution area, which covers about 390,000 square kilometers in the South American countries of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. The stock is assessed by the IUCN as endangered not (Least Concern ).

Features

The Andean Crested ear reaches a body length of about 20 to 21.5 centimeters. The straight black bill is about 20 millimeters long. The upper part of the plumage is brown. The crown is slightly darker. The back is criss-crossed by yellow-brown stripes. The wings have a reddish brown border. The rump and tail are bright reddish brown. The throat is white. The springs at the side of the neck are longer and form a conspicuous snow-white tufts. The breast is white with brown stripes and reddish yellow towards the belly and reddish brown on Untersteiß ( Crissum ). The beak length can vary somewhat depending on the subspecies and gender.

Habitat

The bird moves mainly in the mid and upper canopy of moist montane forest. One observes him at altitudes between 1700-3450 meters. In the search for food he likes to move to long horizontal branches. Here you can see him at bromeliads and epiphytes.

Behavior

The bird may be traveling alone and in company. He goes quite well his companions. Usually he flies high and avoids ground. Sometimes he draws with his tail downwards, makes strong noise or have a look around. To feed intake he likes to climb on moss and epiphytes. The Andean Crested ear feeds mainly on insects and their larvae, but also small frogs provide a portion of the food spectrum represents the food he finds in bromeliads, mosses, lichens and other epiphytes. This explains the proportion of small frogs his food spectrum, as their habitat is the water retention of the hopper epiphytic bromeliads.

Subspecies

The type nine valid subspecies have been described previously.

• Pseudocolaptes boissonneautii auritus ( Tschudi, 1844)
• Pseudocolaptes boissonneautii boissonneautii ( Lafresnaye, 1840)
• Pseudocolaptes boissonneautii carabayae ( Room, 1936)
• Pseudocolaptes boissonneautii intermedianus ( Chapman, 1923)
• Pseudocolaptes boissonneautii median ( Hellmayr, 1919)
• Pseudocolaptes boissonneautii meridae ( Hartert & Goodson, 1917)
• Pseudocolaptes boissonneautii orientalis ( Room, 1935)
• Pseudocolaptes boissonneautii pallidus ( Room, 1935)
• Pseudocolaptes boissonneautii striaticeps ( Hellmayr & Seilern, 1912)

The subspecies Pseudocolaptes boissonneautii oberholseri ( Cory, 1919) is usually considered as an invalid taxon.

The subspecies found in central Peru auritus from the south of the La Libertad region to the north of Puno. The subspecies boissonneautii is native to the Western and Central Andes of Colombia and in the eastern Andes of southern Cundinamarca. In the Andes south of Puno to central and southern Bolivia (eastern to western Santa Cruz ) to find the ssp. carabayae ago. In the region of Piura and Cajamarca in the southwest, the ssp romps. intermedianus. South of the Marañón River of Südcajamarca to the southern part of the San Martín region, the subspecies occurs median. The home of the ssp. meridae is in the Sierra de Perijá, in the Andes of northwestern Venezuela ( in Trujillo, Mérida and the state of Táchira ). On the Colombian side they are found in the south of the province of Boyacá. Oberholseri is probably a synonym for orientalis and occurs at the eastern and western slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes. Pallidus is observed in the northwestern Peru. Finally, one finds the ssp. striaticeps on the coasts of the North of Venezuela. There she is represented by the state Yaracuy about Carabobo to Miranda.

Naming

Originally, the Andean Crested ear under the name Anabates Boissonneautii described. Frédéric de Lafresnaye devote the scientific name Auguste Boissonneau. So Lafresnaye wrote: nous à la dédions M. Boissonneau, comme faisant partie de la riche collection qu'il a reçu de Bogota et comme un hommage des amis de la science de ce qu'avant d'en livrer les nombreuses espèces à des mains étrangčres, il a voulu, dans l' interet de cette science, fair connaître les nouvelles espèces par ses propres descriptions ou celles des auteurs auxquels il les a communiquées obligeamment. ( corresponding translation: We devote the kind Mr. Boissonneau, which in part of its rich collection, which he had received as part of the homage to the friends of science from numerous foreign hands from Bogota ( Santa Fe de Bogota ) In the interest of science and technology. awareness of the need for the description of new species through appropriate authors, he had given us the bellows kindly provided).