Apr 19

Bird of the day

Rufous-breasted leaftosser

Sclerurus scansor

The rufous-breasted leaftosser (Sclerurus scansor) is a species of bird in the subfamily Sclerurinae, the leaftossers and miners, of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay.

The rufous-breasted leaftosser is one of the larger members of genus Sclerurus. It is 17.5 to 20.1 cm (6.9 to 7.9 in) long and weighs 30 to 41 g (1.1 to 1.4 oz). The sexes are alike. The nominate subspecies has a dark brownish face with a somewhat grizzled appearance. Its crown is very dark brown with blackish scalloping. Its back is rich dark brown, its rump bright chestnut, and its uppertail coverts chestnut with reddish brown tips. Its wings are dark reddish brown and its tail is sooty blackish with some faint red-brown. Its throat is pale grayish white with dusky scaling and its upper breast dull rufescent brown with a scaly appearance. It has a wide ochraceous chestnut band across the middle of its breast. Its belly and flanks are dark olivaceous brown with chestnut tones and its undertail coverts are similar with richer chestnut. Its iris is dark brown, its maxilla black, its mandible black with a whitish base, and its legs and feed blackish brown. Juveniles resemble adults but are overall darker.

Subspecies S. s. cearensis is slightly smaller than the nominate. It has a clear white unscaled throat and slightly brighter upper- and underparts.

Aliases

Sclerurus scansor

Range

Range map of Rufous-breasted leaftosser