White-throated Foliage-gleaner

Uncommon to locally fairly common but unobtrusive; a skulking understory bird that is heard far more often than seen. Realistically a heard-first, tape-or-patience species.

Medium furnariid (~18 cm, 22-32 g). The most striking face pattern of any Syndactyla: bold white supercilium contrasting against a blackish-brown face and cheeks. Crown dark grayish-brown, back rich dark rufescent-brown, rump and uppertail-coverts brighter chestnut-rufous, tail rufous. Throat and malar area white (the diagnostic 'white throat'), breast and belly medium brown, flanks and undertail-coverts darker. Bill straightish, fairly heavy.

Understory of humid montane evergreen forest and adjacent wind-stunted (elfin) woodland and the transition zone between them; ~1,100-2,500 m, generally above 1,100 m.

Forages low in the understory, singly or in pairs, gleaning insects and probing dead-leaf clusters and moss. A regular nuclear/attendant member of mixed-species understory flocks. Skulky and hard to see well.

Call a short, harsh 'chek' or 'tzik'; song a sharp, somewhat nasal accelerating series. Recordings: search 'Syndactyla roraimae' (or older 'Automolus roraimae') on Xeno-canto and Macaulay Library; also filter on 'White-throated Foliage-gleaner' / 'Tepui Foliage-gleaner' on Macaulay.

CRITICAL for the curriculum: 'White-throated Foliage-gleaner' and 'Tepui Foliage-gleaner' are the SAME species (Syndactyla roraimae) under current taxonomy (moved out of Automolus in 2008/2011). Teach trainees this is a one-bird name-history issue, not two ticks. To show clients, learn the 'chek/tzik' call, work mixed flocks slowly in upper-Escalera understory, and be ready with brief playback as it responds but stays low.