Breeding

All information on the breeding biology of Rufous-faced Antpitta comes from the oft-cited paper of Bell and Bruning (1976), which reported on the successful rearing of a single brood of antpittas in the New York Zoological Park. The nest was described as "a rather ragged structure of small twigs, assorted leaves, moss and other plant parts ... and measured 20 centimetres wide and 30 high with a cup a full 14 cm. deep". This pair laid a total of six two egg clutches, all of unmarked, pale blue eggs. Only one clutch hatched, ca 15 days after clutch completion, but only because it was artificially incubated. Though not well described, based on a published photo in this article, the newly hatched young were dark skinned and bore dorsal tufts of long down feathers, similar to other species of Grallaria (Greeney 2012). As the chicks were hand reared, it is difficult to determine at what age they would have fledged, but it seems likely that fledging would have occurred no earlier than 20 days, at which point the chick were able to stand and partially walk.