Melanopareiidae Crescentchests
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Introduction
Crescentchests dart and skulk through the undergrowth in scrubby South American habitats, revealing their presence with throaty whistled staccato calls. The patient observer may catch a glimpse of a handsome bird, with a cream-colored throat bordered by a black mask above and a thin black crescent, this family’s eponymous field mark, below. With longer tails than many of their relatives, and with rufous tones below or on the wings, birds of this newly erected family bear a greater resemblance to slight-proportioned buntings or sparrows than they do to gnateaters or antpittas.
Habitat
The crescentchests live in dense arid to semiarid scrub.
Diet and Foraging
There is very little published information about what melanopareiids eat, but invertebrates are thought to make up a large proportion of their diet, with seeds taken at least occasionally.
Breeding
Little is known of the breeding biology of the crescentchests, although what little research has been done suggests that they are monogamous with biparental care. Nest descriptions are available for only two species in this family, and the nests in both are made of grass in an open cup shape or side-opening globe, placed in dense shrubs or grass. Females lay 2 or 3 eggs. Observations at one nest describe a bird scolding an intruder while a second delivered fresh nesting material. The incubation period appears to be 15 to 18 days. Apparently, nothing more is known of parental care in this family.
Conservation Status
One of the four melanopareiid species (25%) faces immediate conservation concerns (1 NT): the Marañon Crescentchest Melanopareia maranonica is threatened by habitat degradation in its small, restricted range in southern Ecuador and northern Peru.
Systematics History
Melanopareiidae is part of the parvorder Furnariida in the New World suboscine radiation. This family had previously been placed with Rhinocryptidae on the basis of shared morphological characters, most notably a four-notched sternum, yet these species have other characters that set them apart from the rest of Rhinocryptidae, including a concealed white wing patch and slender build (Ericson et al. 2009). Analyses of DNA sequence data have indicated different affinities for melanopareiids (Chesser 2004, Moyle et al. 2009, Ohlson et al. 2013a), but they are definitely not included in Rhinocryptidae. Crescentchests may be sister to Conopophagidae (Ericson et al. 2009), or part of a clade that includes Conopophagidae and Thamnophilidae (Ohlson et al. 2013a). An alternative hypothesis (Moyle et al. 2009) suggests that Melanopareiidae is sister to the clade that contains all non-thamnophilid members of Furnariida. Clearly there is room for further work on relationships within Furnariida.
Conservation Status
Least Concern |
100%
|
---|---|
Near Threatened |
0%
|
Vulnerable |
0%
|
Endangered |
0%
|
Critically Endangered |
0%
|
Extinct in the Wild |
0%
|
Extinct |
0%
|
Not Evaluated |
0%
|
Data Deficient |
0%
|
Unknown |
0%
|
Data provided by IUCN (2023) Red List. More information