Scaly-throated Leaftosser Sclerurus guatemalensis

Scaly-throated Leaftosser is a resident, terrestrial bird of lowland humid evergreen forests. Leaftossers are short tailed, terrestrial furnariids with a long, thin bill, relatively short tarsi, and a short, dark, rounded tail. The plumage of leaftossers is dull; Scaly-throated Leaftosser is typical of the genus, with dark rich brown upperparts, a whitish chin and throat with a scaly or checkered appearance, and the breast is mottled reddish brown. This species occupies humid lowland forests from the Caribbean slope of southern Mexico south through Central America to eastern Panama, northwestern Colombia, and northwestern Ecuador; it also occurs on the Pacific slope of southwestern Costa Rica and northwestern Panama. It forages noisily in the leaf litter, flicking leaves aside with its bill, and nests in a burrow excavated in dirt banks and the root-masses of fallen trees. The song of Scaly-throated Leaftosser is a long rollercoaster series of short, clear whistles.