Hooded Antpitta Grallaricula cucullata

This beautiful and diminutive antpitta is automatically immediately recognized within its range by the bright orange-rufous head and throat; the rest of the bird’s plumage is a mix of brown and gray, with a small white crescent on the lower throat. Hooded Antpitta is virtually endemic to Colombia, only occurring outside its borders in extreme western Venezuela. In Colombia it is known from all three Andean ranges, and recent records are beginning to fill in distribution gaps. An inhabitant of the dense understory of humid montane forest between 1500 and 2700 m, it is always encountered low above the ground and usually alone. Almost nothing is known about the Hooded Antpitta’s breeding ecology, general behavior, or even its vocalizations. Perhaps this is unsurprising given the species’ undoubted rarity and its highly secretive behavior, but as it is currently considered Vulnerable by BirdLife International, studies are urgently needed on all aspects of its distribution, taxonomy, behavior, and natural history.