Hooded Gnateater Conopophaga roberti

One of three species of gnateaters endemic to Brazil, Hooded Gnateater is restricted to the far northeastern portion of the country, where it occurs from the east bank of the Rio Tocantins in Pará, eastward to western Ceará. In the western part of its range, Hooded Gnateater seems to be solely reliant on thickets at the edge of humid forest, but further east it inhabits increasingly xeric wooded habitats, although it always prefers densely vegetated areas close to the ground. Like all of its congeners, this is a beautiful bird when seen well, but it can be hard to get a glimpse of in its tangled habitat. Males are strikingly patterned, largely black below and over the head (hooded), with thin white postocular tufts, while females are much more rufous brown above and over the crown, with a gray face and underparts. Although the first description of the nest and eggs of Hooded Gnateater was published nearly 80 years ago, this account has been largely overlooked in the literature. Nonetheless, only one other nest has been described and there are no published studies on any other aspect of the reproductive biology of this species.