Chestnut-capped Foliage-gleaner Clibanornis rectirostris Scientific name definitions

Although sometimes placed in the genus Automolus, the Chestnut-capped Foliage-gleaner is more usually considered a member of Hylocryptus, with its closest relative being the Tumbesian endemic, Henna-hooded Foliage-gleaner (Hylocryptus erythrocephalus). In contrast, the range of the present species lies almost a continent away in the interior of south-central Brazil and eastern Paraguay. Until recently, this region was not frequently visited by ornithologists, but it is now known to be a reasonably common inhabitant of deciduous woodland and gallery forests, even being found in relatively small and isolated patches of habitat. It is a strikingly plumaged bird, usually first located by virtue of its highly distinctive vocalizations that sound rather like a ‘demented’ domestic fowl. Virtually the entire head and body are rufous, deepest on the face and wings, with bright yellow irides, a long tail and a heavy bill.

Interior SC Brazil (SE Mato Grosso, S Goiás and S Bahia S to SW Minas Gerais, extreme E São Paulo and NW Paraná) to E Paraguay (San Pedro).