Appearance

Antpittas (Grallaria) have a distinctive morphology: they are plump-bodied, with short tails and notably long tarsi. The White-bellied Antpitta is a medium sized antpitta with a simple plumage pattern: basically it is reddish brown above and grayish white below, with a whiter throat.

No similar species of antpitta overlaps geographically with White-bellied Antpitta. Bicolored (Grallaria rufocinerea) and Chestnut-naped (Grallaria nuchalis) antpittas are darker gray below, not whitish gray, and also primarily occur at higher elevations. The most similar species is the Yellow-breasted Antpitta (Grallaria flavotincta), which has a similar plumage pattern but is pale yellow below, not whitish gray. Yellow-breasted Antpitta occurs only in the western Andes, and so does not overlap geographically with White-bellied Antpitta. Other similar, but allopatric, species are the Rusty-tinged Antpitta (Grallaria przewalskii) of northern Peru, which has a creamy throat and rufous on the sides of the breast; and the Red-and-white Antpitta (Grallaria erythroleuca) of southern Peru, which has a white belly and rufous flanks and sides to the breast.

Adult: Sexes similar. Crown dull rufescent brown or dusky brown; forecrown more or less streaked with black. Upperparts reddish brown, slightly brighter and paler across the nape. Sides of the head and of the neck rufous. Lores white or gray (in some individuals almost black). Throat white. Breast and flanks gray, center of belly white. Sides of breast rufous brown. Flanks olive brown or tawny brown; undertail coverts tawny.

This description is based on specimens in the Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science.

Not described.

Iris: brown

Bill: black or blackish gray

Tarsi and toes: blue-gray

Bare parts color data from Krabbe and Schulenberg (2003) and from specimens in the Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science.

Total length: 16–17 cm (Schulenberg et al. 2007), 17 cm (Ridgely and Greenfield 2001b, Krabbe and Schulenberg 2003), 18 cm (Hilty and Brown 1986)

Linear measurements: The following data are for males, from Chapman (1923); the sample sizes are three for nominate hypoleuca and four for castanea:

wing, hypoleuca:     92-93 mm

wing, castanea:       88-90 mm

tail, hypoleuca:        50-54 mm

tail, castanea:          47-50 mm

tarsus, hypoleuca:    45.5-51 mm

tarsus, castanea:       43-45 mm

culmen, hypoleuca: 23-25.5 mm

culmen, castanea:   22.5-23 mm

Mass: males, 62-69 g (n = 3; Krabbe and Schulenberg 2003)