ML615454209

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

This bird was discovered by Nemesio Gulfo Tenoria two days earler and was seen by me and several other observers on February 4 also. Despite ProAves putting out a press release on 15 February claiming the bird to be a "unique and distinctive new species of Antpitta for science" (https://proaves.org/en/astounding-new-species-of-bird-for-science-discovered-in-the-sierra-nevada-de-santa-marta-colombia/), it is entered here as an Undulated Antpitta, as there is nothing in plumage or size that proves to this observer that the bird is not an Undaluated Antpitta. It is acknowledged that new information that may come to light in the future could change this situation. The bird was seen very well on a forested hillside devoid on undergrowth, at a distance of 8-20 meters for long periods. The bird wasa apparently hanging around a spot where kitchen scraps from the lodge were dumped; these presumably attracted food items in the form of various invertebrates. The press release refers to the bird as "a huge Antpitta" but my impression was that while it was relatively large it certainly was not "huge". We had seen 8 other species of Antpitta elsewhere in Colombia in the preceeding two weeks. This bird appeared larger than most of the ones we had seen, probably about the size of Chestnut-naped Antpitta (length of Undulated is given as 20-23cm versus Chestnut-naped 19.5-20cm). The crown and nape was slaty grey, contrasting with the remaining upperparts which were olive-brown. The throat was white, clearly delineated by blackish malar stripes and a thin blackish band going acroos the breast. The remainder of the underparts were orangy-buff, heavily scalloped with dark brown. Eye was dark brown, a partial buff eyering visible at the rear, while the loral and supraloral areas were pale buff. Bill was sturdy, almost resembling a thrush, horn colored, with lower mandible paler than upper. Leg pale horn colored.

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS R5

Lens

RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM

ISO

12800

Focal length

500 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/8.0

Shutter speed

1/160 sec

Dimensions

2640 pixels x 1761 pixels

Original file size

1.14 MB