Bolivian Recurvebill Syndactyla striata Scientific name definitions

The Bolivian Recurvebill is endemic to the Andean foothills of western and central Bolivia, where it is an inhabitant of humid forest below 1500 m elevation. This is a large-billed dark rufous-brown foliage-gleaner-like bird, with a buff supercilium and prominent buff streaking over the head, neck and back. The underparts are buffy-rufous, but given a good view (not always easy) the most striking feature is the obviously upturned bill. Formerly listed as Vulnerable, BirdLife International has recently recategorized the Bolivian Recurvebill as Near Threatened, in light of recent survey work, which has revealed it to be decidedly more numerous than heretofore believed. It has recently been suggested that this species and its only congeneric, the Peruvian Recurvebill (Simoxenops ucayalae), might be better removed to the foliage-gleaner genus Syndactyla.

19–20 cm; 37·5–48·5 g. Fairly large, dark rufous furnariid with streaking both above and below. Has face mostly grizzled and flammulated brownish and rufous; crown and back rich dark reddish-brown with conspicuous dark buff streaks, narrower on crown than on back; rump slightly paler and nearly unstreaked, uppertail-coverts dark chestnut; wings mainly rich dark reddish-brown, bend of wing ochraceous; tail slightly rounded, shafts slightly stiffened basally, slightly pointed tips, distal 1 mm lacking barbs (or barbs worn off), dull chestnut; malar area and throat orange-rufous, faint paler shaft spotting along lower margin of throat; breast and upper belly with blurred, irregular streaks of orange-rufous and brown, these virtually disappearing on rich brown lower belly; undertail-coverts more chestnut, with ochraceous shaft streaking; iris dark; bill grey; tarsus and toes greyish. Sexes alike. Juvenile not described, but a museum specimen with dark scalloping on upper breast and lower throat (similar to pattern of juvenile S. ucayalae) may represent this plumage.

Humid foothill and lower montane forest; 650–1700 m (2 Hennessey, A.B. (2003). Catorce nuevos registros altitudinales de aves del bosque húmedo montano, Parque Nacional Madidi, Bolivia. Ecología en Bolivia. 38(2): 121-124. Close ). Not a bamboo obligate, but found at highest population densities where Guadua bamboo is common to abundant (3 Herzog, S.K., Hennessey, A.B., Kessler, M., and García-Solíz, V.H. (2008). Distribution, natural history and conservation status of two endemics of the Bolivian Yungas, Bolivian Recurvebill Simoxenops striatus and Yungas Antwren Myrmotherula grisea. Bird Conservation International. 18(4): 331-348. Close ).

Song a harsh, staccato, rattling, ascending series that levels in pitch and then ends abruptly, c. 3 seconds long, similar to that of S. ucayalae; call a raspy “chet” and nasal, scolding “naah”.

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Restricted-range species: present in Bolivian and Peruvian Lower Yungas EBA. Previously known from a few specimens and thought to be rare, which triggered assessment as Vulnerable, then Near Threatened. Range now estimated to be much larger at 81,400 km² BirdLife International (2016) Species factsheet: Simoxenops striatus. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 29/06/2016. . Subsequently found to be not uncommon in Cordillera Mosetenes, where encountered at high densities of 20 pairs/km² (3 Herzog, S.K., Hennessey, A.B., Kessler, M., and García-Solíz, V.H. (2008). Distribution, natural history and conservation status of two endemics of the Bolivian Yungas, Bolivian Recurvebill Simoxenops striatus and Yungas Antwren Myrmotherula grisea. Bird Conservation International. 18(4): 331-348. Close ). On the basis of this information, global population likely to comprise at least 60,000 mature individuals (3 Herzog, S.K., Hennessey, A.B., Kessler, M., and García-Solíz, V.H. (2008). Distribution, natural history and conservation status of two endemics of the Bolivian Yungas, Bolivian Recurvebill Simoxenops striatus and Yungas Antwren Myrmotherula grisea. Bird Conservation International. 18(4): 331-348. Close ). Present in Pilón Lajas Biosphere Reserve and Madidi National Park (2 Hennessey, A.B. (2003). Catorce nuevos registros altitudinales de aves del bosque húmedo montano, Parque Nacional Madidi, Bolivia. Ecología en Bolivia. 38(2): 121-124. Close ), in La Paz, Carrasco National Park, in Cochabamba, and Amboró National Park, in Santa Cruz. In last of those, at least 4 birds found in area of 0·5 km² in early 1990s and total numbers in park suggested as being reasonably good. Forest in its narrow elevational range is under intense pressure from agricultural expansion and conversion, and much of its range has been deforested; encroachment by settlers into protected areas a major problem. Nonetheless, this species appears to adapt well to habitat modification and large extensions of pristine forest remain in inaccessible areas within the species' elevational range BirdLife International (2016) Species factsheet: Simoxenops striatus. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 29/06/2016. . Effective protection of habitat considered a conservation priority.