Habitat

On the whole, the Tawny Antpitta is most commonly considered a species of Andean páramo and humid montane forests with adjacent grass (23 Fjeldså, J., and N. Krabbe (1990). Birds of the High Andes: A Manual to the Birds of the Temperate Zone of the Andes and Patagonia, South America. Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen and Apollo Books, Copenhagen and Svendborg, Denmark. Close ). It appears, however, to be fairly tolerant of habitat disturbance and prone to use almost any type of open area at appropriate elevations (59 Sibley, C. G., and B. L. Monroe (1990). Distribution and Taxonomy of Birds of the World. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, USA. Close ). Across its range, natural habitats include barren cushion-plant and bunch-grass páramo, bunch-grass páramo with scattered trees and shrubs or frailejones (Espeletia), and the interior and edge of elfin and Polylepis forests (154 Freile, J. F. (2000). Patrones de Distribución y sus Implicaciones en la Conservación de los Géneros Grallaria y Grallaricula (Aves: Formicariidae) en el Ecuador. B.S. thesis, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador. Close , 212 Ridgely, R. S., and P. J. Greenfield (2001). The Birds of Ecuador. Volumes 1–2. Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca, NY, USA. Close ). Much of the species’ range has been heavily impacted by human civilizations since the Incas ruled the Andean highlands. Nevertheless, in some areas it is now apparently flourishing in hedgerows and small patches of second growth largely surrounded by agriculture, pine plantations, and cattle pastures (23 Fjeldså, J., and N. Krabbe (1990). Birds of the High Andes: A Manual to the Birds of the Temperate Zone of the Andes and Patagonia, South America. Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen and Apollo Books, Copenhagen and Svendborg, Denmark. Close ). Tawny Antpittas, however, appear to be absent from fully urban situations, but this may be a result of the devastating effects of cats, rather than its inability to occupy such areas (8 Greeney, H. F. (2018). Antpittas and Gnateaters. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Adults often appear to favor lakeshores and swampy areas (6 Krabbe, N., and T. S. Schulenberg (2003). Family Formicariidae (ground-antbirds). In Handbook of the Birds of the World, Volume 8: Broadbills to Tapaculos (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, and D. A. Christie, Editors), Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. pp. 682–731. Close ).

Across its range, the Tawny Antpitta is found at 2,200–4,500 m, but is most commonly confined to elevations above 2,800 m (154 Freile, J. F. (2000). Patrones de Distribución y sus Implicaciones en la Conservación de los Géneros Grallaria y Grallaricula (Aves: Formicariidae) en el Ecuador. B.S. thesis, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador. Close , 234 Ridgely, R. S., and G. Tudor (1994). The Birds of South America. Volume 2. University of Texas Press, Austin, TX, USA. Close , 6 Krabbe, N., and T. S. Schulenberg (2003). Family Formicariidae (ground-antbirds). In Handbook of the Birds of the World, Volume 8: Broadbills to Tapaculos (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, and D. A. Christie, Editors), Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. pp. 682–731. Close , 8 Greeney, H. F. (2018). Antpittas and Gnateaters. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). In Ecuador, it is reported mostly at 3,000–4,500 m (212 Ridgely, R. S., and P. J. Greenfield (2001). The Birds of Ecuador. Volumes 1–2. Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca, NY, USA. Close , 219 Freile, J., and R. Restall (2018). Birds of Ecuador. Bloomsbury, London, UK. Close ). In Peru, Schulenberg et al. (21 Schulenberg, T. S., D. F. Stotz, D. F. Lane, J. P. O’Neill, and T. A. Parker (2007). Birds of Peru. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA. Close ) gave its preferred range as 2,850–3,400 m. Chapman (124 Chapman, F. M. (1926). Distribution of bird-life in Ecuador: a contribution to a study of the origin of Andean bird-life. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 55. Close ) reported a lower altitudinal limit of 1,220 m based on specimens from Huigra on the slopes of Volcán Pichincha. As noted by Paynter (235 Paynter, R. A., Jr. (1993). An Ornithological Gazetteer of Ecuador. Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA. Close ), however, Huigra is actually in Chimborazo Province, and the specimens to which Chapman (124 Chapman, F. M. (1926). Distribution of bird-life in Ecuador: a contribution to a study of the origin of Andean bird-life. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 55. Close ) was referring are almost certainly mislabelled as to their provenance (8 Greeney, H. F. (2018). Antpittas and Gnateaters. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).