The trilling tapaculo is a species of bird in the family Rhinocryptidae. It is found in Bolivia and Peru.
Region
Central Andes
Typical Environment
Occurs in the humid montane forests of southern Peru and adjacent western Bolivia. It favors dense understory, especially bamboo thickets, vine tangles, and mossy slopes within cloud forest. The species uses forest edges, landslides, and ravines where cover remains thick. It stays near the ground, moving through leaf litter and low vegetation. Local abundance can be patchy, tied closely to the presence of bamboo and dense shrubs.
Altitude Range
1800–3500 m
Climate Zone
Highland
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
The trilling tapaculo is best identified by its long, even trill, which can carry through dense undergrowth. Like many Scytalopus, it is extremely skulking and is more often heard than seen. It often associates with dense Chusquea bamboo in Andean cloud forests, where it forages close to the ground.
Temperament
skulking and shy
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats, rarely flies far
Social Behavior
Typically found singly or in pairs, maintaining small territories in dense understory. Nests are placed low, often in burrows or cavities in banks lined with moss and fibers. Pairs communicate frequently with trills and soft contact calls, especially during breeding season.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
A sustained, even-pitched trill lasting several seconds, delivered at a steady pace with little modulation. Calls include sharp chips and soft contact notes from within cover.
Plumage
Compact, short-tailed tapaculo with mostly dark slate-gray to blackish body and contrasting brown to rufous flanks and undertail coverts, usually with fine dusky barring. Upperparts are plain dark gray; tail is very short and often held cocked. Plumage is overall uniform, relying on subtle tone differences and flank barring.
Diet
Feeds primarily on small arthropods such as beetles, ants, spiders, and other insects gleaned from leaf litter and low vegetation. It probes among moss, roots, and debris, often flicking leaves aside with the bill. Occasionally takes small larvae and other invertebrates found in bamboo and vine tangles.
Preferred Environment
Forages on or just above the ground in dense bamboo thickets, ferny slopes, and tangled understory of humid montane forest. Often works along trails, ravines, and forest edges where leaf litter and cover are abundant.
