Slaty-winged foliage-gleaner facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Slaty-winged foliage-gleaner
Adult P. f. erythronotum
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Furnariidae
Genus:	Philydor
Species:	P. fuscipenne
Binomial name
Philydor fuscipenne Salvin, 1866
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Synonyms
Philydor fuscipennis

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The slaty-winged foliage-gleaner (Philydor fuscipenne) is a cool bird that lives in the forests of Central and South America. It's part of the ovenbird family, which is known for building unique nests. You can find this bird in Colombia, Ecuador, and Panama.

About the Slaty-Winged Foliage-Gleaner

The slaty-winged foliage-gleaner is a medium-sized bird, about 17 centimeters (6.7 inches) long. It weighs around 25 to 28 grams (about 1 ounce), which is like a few quarters. Both male and female birds look alike.

What Does It Look Like?

This bird has a mix of brown and rusty colors. It has a light, yellowish-brown stripe above its eye and a dark band behind it. Its head is dark brown, and its back is a rich, reddish-brown. The tail is a reddish-chestnut color. Its wings are a slaty gray-brown, which is how it got its name!

The throat is often orange or rusty, and its chest is a deeper reddish color. The belly is lighter. Its eyes are brown, and its beak is gray to blackish. Its legs and feet are greenish-gray. Young birds look a lot like adults but might have more reddish-brown on their upper parts.

A slaty-winged foliage-gleaner perched on a branch.

Where Does It Live?

The slaty-winged foliage-gleaner lives in humid, lowland forests. It also likes to live in forests that are growing back after being cut down (called secondary forests). These birds usually live at elevations between 500 and 1000 meters (about 1,600 to 3,300 feet) above sea level. In Colombia, they can be found as high as 1600 meters, but in Ecuador, they usually stay below 600 meters.

Its Home Countries

This bird has two main groups, or subspecies, that live in different areas:

• One group lives in central Panama.
• Another group is found from eastern Panama into Colombia.
• A separate group lives in western Ecuador.

Bird Behavior

The slaty-winged foliage-gleaner stays in the same area all year round; it doesn't migrate.

What Does It Eat?

This bird loves to eat insects and spiders. Its favorite foods include grasshoppers, beetles, and spiders. Sometimes, it might even eat other small insects or tiny lizards!

It usually looks for food alone or in pairs. Often, you'll see it joining groups of different bird species that are all foraging together. It mainly searches for food in the lower and middle parts of the forest. It's very acrobatic, climbing along branches and picking its prey from dead leaves and plants growing on trees.

Reproduction and Life Cycle

Scientists don't know much about how the slaty-winged foliage-gleaner breeds or raises its young. More research is needed to understand its family life!

What Does It Sound Like?

The slaty-winged foliage-gleaner has a special song. It's a fast, steady trill that gets quicker as it goes. When birds want to call to each other, they make a sharp "chef" sound.

Conservation Status

The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) has listed the slaty-winged foliage-gleaner as a species of "Least Concern." This means it's not currently in danger of disappearing.

It has a large area where it lives, and there are at least 20,000 adult birds. However, this number is thought to be going down. There aren't any big, immediate threats to the species right now. In Panama, it's considered uncommon to fairly common. In Colombia, it's locally common, but in Ecuador, it's quite rare. The birds in Ecuador are considered more vulnerable because a lot of their forest homes have been destroyed.