Chestnut Antpitta Grallaria blakei

Just one of several species of Grallaria named for keynote Neotropical ornithologists, the scientific name of the present species pays homage to Emmet Reid Blake. Discovered as recently as the 1980s, the Chestnut Antpitta is endemic to the east slope of the Andes in central and northern Peru, where the species is, at best, locally common at elevations between 1700 and 3100 m. Like many other antpittas, the species’ behavior is still very incompletely known, although in many respects it is probably similar to Rufous Antpitta (Grallaria rufula), which species the Chestnut Antpitta largely replaces elevationally. This species’ quite disjunct range is subject to ongoing habitat destruction, with deforestation proceeding at an alarming rate, at least locally, with the result that BirdLife International currently regards the Chestnut Antpitta as Near Threatened.