Dusky Purpletuft Iodopleura fusca Scientific name definitions

Whilst not the rarest of its genus, the Dusky Purpletuft is a very poorly known and infrequently observed species, which is principally restricted to the Guianas, where the first observations of its breeding biology were made very recently. It is also known from less than a handful of sites in Brazil, both north of Manaus, in Amazonas, and in the northeasternmost state of Amapá. Some authorities have opined that the Dusky and White-browed Purpletufts (Iodopleura isabellae) might be conspecific, but this suggestion is rarely considered credible. As its name suggests, the Dusky Purpletuft is the darker of these two species, having chocolate-brown underparts from the throat to the lower flanks, apart from a whitish median line and mottled undertail coverts, and it lacks any white markings on the head.

11 cm; one male 15·3 g. Small cotingid with relatively long hirundinid-like wings  , short tail extending only 5–10 mm beyond tail-coverts, wide bill slightly expanded at base, hooked at tip. Male  slaty blackish above, white band on rump; underparts smoky brown, white centrally , with small tuft of violet ­feathers on upper flank; iris dark brown; upper ­mandible black, lower mandible lead-grey; legs dark lead-grey. Smaller than I. isabellae, much darker, lacks white on head, throat and flanks. Female has flank tuft white. Juvenile has conspicuously white-tipped feathers; moults into plumage indistinguishable (or nearly so) from full adult plumage.

Extreme SE Venezuela (E Bolívar), the Guianas, and adjacent N Brazil (Roraima, Amapá and also farther S, to Manaus area (1 Whittaker, A. and Kirwan, G.M. (2008). Natural history data for the canopy-dwelling purpletufts Iodopleura (Cotingidae), and first documentation of Dusky Purpletuft I. fusca for Brazil. Bull. Brit. Orn. Club 128(1): 28–35. Close ) ).

Insects, taken in flight sallies from treetops ; also fruit. No further details.

Soft trilled notes and high  , thin notes  , similar to those of I. isabellae.

A nest in French Guiana was being built in Dec–Jan on a horizontal branch in the canopy of a c. 20 m high tree, a few metres below the top; nest was tiny, cone-shaped (2 Ingels, J. and Vinot, A. (2010). First nest of Dusky Purpletuft Iodopleura fusca, from French Guiana. Bull. Brit. Orn. Club. 130(1): 71–72. Close ). Pair with fledglings in Feb in Venezuela. No other information.

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Poorly known. Considered uncommon or rare, but probably under-recorded owing to difficulty of observation of small treetop birds in areas of unbroken forest. Occurs in Imataca Forest Reserve and El Dorado, in Venezuela.