Slaty Bristlefront - Merulaxis ater

Slaty Bristlefront (Merulaxis ater)

Ubatuba, São Paulo, Brazil

The Slaty Bristlefront is distributed in south-east Brazil and is a Brazilian endemic. It is found in the Atlantic Rain Forest and in mature secondary woodland and is normally either on or very close to the ground. It is thought that the long bristles in front of its eyes help it to see prey as it lifts up the leaf litter on the ground.

The male, as seen in these photos, is slaty grey with dark brown back, rump and flanks. The female is brown above and cinnamon-rufous below.

It is a member of the tapaculo family and like all tapaculos it is much easier to hear than to see.

Its song, one of my favourites, rises and falls in volume and pitch as you can hear on xeno-canto. As it sings it arches its back and fluffs out its neck as you can see in photo 4.

Male Slaty Bristlefront, Ubatuba, São Paulo, Brazil, November 2006 - click for larger image

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