Rufous-backed Stipplethroat Epinecrophylla haematonota Scientific name definitions

10–11 cm; 8–10·5 g. Male has crown to upper mantle greyish olive-brown, rest of upperparts, flight-feathers and tail deep rufous; wing-coverts blackish brown, greater coverts tipped pale buff, median and lesser coverts tipped white; throat black, spotted white; head-side, breast and upper belly light grey, lower belly, flanks and undertail-coverts yellow-brown. Female differs from male in having wing-covert tips more pinkish buff, throat white to pale buff and variably streaked black, usually dark feather bases showing through, head-side and underparts light yellowish olive-brown, darker on flanks and undertail-coverts. Race <em>pyrrhonota</em> male is very like nominate but rufous of upperparts perhaps brighter and clearer, female distinctive with head-side and throat yellow-ochre, throat usually unstreaked (sometimes few fine streaks) and dark bases not apparent, breast and belly reddish yellow-brown to reddish-tinged buff, flanks and undertail-coverts olive-brown; and race <em>fjeldsaai</em> male has crown olive-brown, upperparts dark yellowish brown, flight-feathers and tail darker with rufous tinge, wing-coverts blackish brown, greater coverts tipped pale buff, median and lesser coverts tipped whitish, throat black, spotted white, head-side, breast and upper belly light grey, lower belly, flanks and undertail-coverts pale yellowish brown, while female has head-sides ochraceous, chin and throat mostly white with dark streaks, and underparts buffy brown.

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Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Understorey of lowland evergreen forest (mostly terra firme, but race fjeldsaai also in transitional and, to lesser extent, várzea, perhaps preferring areas with abundant palms in understorey), mostly below 500 m; to 1300 m in Venezuela and N Brazil (N Roraima).

Feeds on insects and spiders. Closely associated pair-members, individuals, or family groups forage mostly 1–3 m above ground, also at 5–9 m in some regions (e.g., race fjeldsaai in E Ecuador). Almost always with mixed-species understorey flocks of Thamnomanes antshrikes, other antwrens, foliage-gleaners (Furnariidae) and other insectivores; race fjeldsaai usually also with Tawny-crowned Greenlets (Tunchiornis ochraceiceps), Red-crowned Ant-tanagers (Habia rubica) and other insectivores, being often found in same flocks as E. erythrura, then invariably foraging lower than that species. Food obtained almost exclusively from recesses of curled, arboreal dead leaves. Forages mostly along slender branches of understorey trees and on understorey palms (e.g. Geonoma), less frequently in vine tangles; progresses rapidly by short hops, often hitching from side to side, ignoring live foliage and systematically pausing to inspect arboreal dead leaves, both single hanging ones and clusters trapped in vines, in branches and, especially, in tops of small palms. Gleans prey from smaller dead leaves mostly by reaching up, with neck and legs extended, or by hanging head first from adjacent perches; from larger leaves (e.g. Cecropia) by hanging acrobatically like a tit (Paridae) from sides (often upside-down) or bottom of leaf or by perching atop it, and from understorey palms by clinging to tips of leaflets; usually rummages audibly for 5–30 seconds (sometimes up to c. 1 minute or longer) in a single leaf or cluster, and probes by delicately inserting the bill, or sometimes the entire head, into curls and crevices. When larger arthropod extracted, usually hops or flies to a nearby horizontal perch and bashes prey against branch, sometimes for up to a minute, to subdue it. Because of time spent in searching individual leaves or clusters, combined with protracted handling time for large prey, this species is often left behind after more active flock mates have moved on some distance.

Loudsong a trill of abrupt, sibilant notes first ascending and then gradually dropping in pitch, similar in pattern to that of E. gutturalis and E. spodionota, pace and length appear to vary regionally; in intraspecific agonistic display, song of complex and raspy notes, often introduced by up to 4–5 short clear notes. Loudsong of race fjeldsaai not known to differ from that of nominate, but sample of available recordings is small. Calls include doublet of abrupt notes, second higher-pitched (recorded only for pyrrhonota); also abrupt single note, and high-pitched rattle.

Almost nothing known, until very recently. Female with yolking egg in Mar in Venezuela (Cerro de la Neblina, in Amazonas). Nest discovered at Los Amigos Biological Station, Madre de Dios, in SE Peru (late Jul 2015) was closed and globular, supported laterally, with a side entrance, and resembled a simple cup with a domed roof; it was suspended between two adjacent palm (Geonoma sp.) fronds in the understorey of terra firme forest, 33 cm above ground, and the interior of the nest comprised strips of palm leaves and other monocot and dicot leaves, while the exterior comprised large leaves interwoven by strips of palm leaves and rootlets; dimensions were outer diameter 85 mm, inner diameter 42 mm, outer depth 102 mm, inner depth 78 mm, entrance diameter 46 mm, entrance depth 54 mm. Two white eggs speckled brick red to dark magenta were present, one measured 17·5 mm × 12·5 mm, mass 1·25 g; male observed incubating. No further information, as nest was abandoned shortly after discovery.

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Uncommon to fairly common throughout most of its range. This includes some large protected areas, among them Tinigua National Park, in Colombia, Yapacana, Duida and La Neblina National Parks and Caura Forest Reserve, in Venezuela, and Jaú and Serra do Divisor National Parks, in Brazil. Race fjeldsaai fairly common within the huge (7281 km²) Yasuní National Park, in E Ecuador, which alone should allow for protection of a substantial population of this subspecies, provided that intensified regional development through oil exploration and drilling is not allowed to compromise the ecological integrity of the park. Range elsewhere also contains large, contiguous expanses of intact habitat which, although not formally protected, appear to be at minimal risk of development in the near term.