Streak-breasted Treehunter (Thripadectes rufobrunneus); Trepamusgo cuellirojizo; Anabate des ravins; Ockerkehl-Baumspäher

John and Milena continue to submit fine photos of bird species from the Turrialba Volcano slope, this time yet another furnariid, a Streak-breasted Treehunter at Los Bajos del Volcán. Beware of the final steep descent to this dead-end location! If you go in by car, you may not get back out so easily.

Even larger than all the local foliage-gleaners that I showed in my last post, this particular Treehunter species is found only in Costa Rica and western Panama. Actually, I consider its German and Spanish names to be more helpful since they both emphasize the ochre or reddish throat. Note that the species has no post-ocular stripe, which eliminates possible confusion with several of the aforementioned foliage-gleaners.

The Streak-breasted Treehunter is a species of higher elevations from around 1,800-2,500 m. It is considered to be a fairly common species over much of its range and there are quite a few mostly quite recent confirmed sightings both from the Tuis area as well as from the Turrialba Volcano slope. However, I myself have never been able to get a peek at it it despite living and birding on the Turrialba Volcano slope for some 15 years. Take a good look at friend John Beer’s photographs from Los Bajos:

First impression is said to be of a dark-brown, medium-sized bird, but fortunately these photographs capture really clear views of the plumage, highlighting both the throat and, here below, the underparts:

See my next post for a little more information that may well explain the behaviour of what was very possibly a pair of Streak-breasted Treehunters.

Los Bajos del Volcán is a location that shouldn´t be missed. Highland species may be fewer in number but many simply cannot be found at lower elevations. Unfortunately, this is a world that is rapidly disappearing as increasingly accessible areas come under cultivation or are used as pasture for the dairy industry.