{{Short description|Species of bird}} {{Use American English|date=August 2024}}

{{speciesbox | image = | status = | genus = Pyriglena | species = similis | authority = Zimmer, 1931 | synonyms = ''Pyriglena leucoptera similis'' | range_map = Pyriglena similis map.svg }}

The '''Tapajos fire-eye''' ('''''Pyriglena similis''''') is an insectivorous bird in subfamily Thamnophilinae of family Thamnophilidae, the "typical antbirds". It is endemic to Brazil.<ref name=IOC14.1>{{cite web |url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/bow/antbirds/ |title=Antbirds |website=IOC World Bird List |version =v 14.1 | editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen |date=January 2024 |access-date=4 January 2024 }}</ref>

==Taxonomy and systematics==

The Tapajos fire-eye's taxonomy is unsettled. The International Ornithological Congress, the Clements taxonomy, and the South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society treat it as a monotypic species.<ref name=IOC14.1/><ref name=Clements2023>Clements, J. F., P.C. Rasmussen, T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, A. Spencer, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2023. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2023. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ retrieved October 28, 2023</ref><ref name=SACClist>Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, G. Del-Rio, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 27 July 2024. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved July 28, 2024</ref> However, BirdLife International's ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) treats it as a subspecies of what it calls the white-backed fire-eye (''Pyriglena leuconata'').<ref name=HBW7>HBW and BirdLife International (2022) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 7. Available at: https://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v7_Dec22.zip retrieved December 13, 2022</ref><ref name=HBW8>HBW and BirdLife International (2023). Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 8. Available at: https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/taxonomy retrieved December 28, 2023</ref> Starting in 2020 the other three systems split the white-backed into the Tapajos, western, and East Amazonian fire-eyes.<ref name=IOC14.1/><ref name=Clements2023/><ref name=SACClist/>

==Description==

The Tapajos fire-eye is {{convert|16|to|18|cm|in|sigfig=2|abbr=on}} long. Both sexes have bright red irises.&nbsp;Males are mostly glossy black with a partially hidden white patch between their scapulars and blackish gray underwing coverts. Females are mostly rufous-brown with a brown-tinged black head and a partially hidden white interscapular patch.<ref name=TAFE-BOW>Zimmer, K. and M.L. Isler (2021). Tapajos Fire-eye (''Pyriglena similis''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.whbfie9.01 retrieved August 17, 2024</ref><ref name=vanPerlo>{{cite book | last =van Perlo | first = Ber| title =A Field Guide to the Birds of Brazil | publisher =Oxford University Press | date =2009 | location =New York | pages =250–251 | isbn =978-0-19-530155-7 }}</ref>

==Distribution and habitat==

The Tapajos fire-eye is found in central Amazonian Brazil south of the Amazon between the Tapajos and Xingu rivers. It inhabits dense understorey vegetation in lowland evergreen forest. It mostly occurs at the edges of primary forest, in mature secondary forest, and in clearings such as those caused by fallen trees.<ref name=TAFE-BOW/><ref name=vanPerlo/>

==Behavior== ===Movement===

The Tapajos fire-eye is believed to be a year-round resident throughout its range.<ref name=TAFE-BOW/>

===Feeding===

Little is known specifically about the Tapajos fire-eye's diet and feeding behavior, as most studies were of the pre-split white-backed fire-eye and so may include data about the western and East Amazonian fire-eyes. The three are assumed to have similar diets and feeding behavior. Their diet includes a wide variety insects (e.g. orthopterans, beetles, ants, wasps, and adult and larval moths and butterflies), other arthropods such as spiders and centipedes, and small lizards up to about {{convert|11|cm|in|abbr=on}} long. They typically forage singly, in pairs, or in family groups in dense vegetation, mostly on the ground and within about {{convert|3|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} above it but as high as {{convert|5|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}. They hop between short feeding stops, pumping their tail. They capture prey by gleaning, reaching, jumping (upward and to the ground), lunging from a perch, and by tossing aside leaf litter on the ground. Much less frequently they make short sallies to glean or capture prey on the wing. Smaller prey is usually eaten whole; larger prey is taken to the ground and pecked and torn apart. They regularly follow army ant swarms that cross their territory to capture prey disturbed by the ants, and several family groups may congregate at a swarm. They dominate such groups when in their territory but are subordinate to obligate ant-following species.<ref name=TAFE-BOW/>

===Breeding===

As is the case with diet and feeding behavior, little is known specifically about the Tapajos fire-eye's breeding biology, and that of it and the western and East Amazonian fire-eyes are assumed to similar. However, most data are from Brazil. There the breeding season is year-round though it peaks between August and November. The nest is an "oven" hidden among vegetation on the ground; the male does most of the construction with the female contributing towards the end. The clutch size is two eggs. The incubation period, time to fledging, and details of parental care are not known.<ref name=TAFE-BOW/>

{{birdsong|url=https://xeno-canto.org/species/Pyriglena-similis |species=the Tapajos fire-eye}} ===Vocalization===

The song of male Tapajos fire-eyes is "a medium-length (e.g. 2 seconds) series of evenly paced short whistles that usually rise and fall slightly in pitch, sometimes also in intensity". Females sing a higher pitched and longer version and typically start during the male's song.<ref name=TAFE-BOW/>

==Status==

The IUCN follows HBW taxonomy and so has not separately assessed the western, Tapajos, and East Amazonian fire-eyes. In 2016 it assessed the white-backed fire-eye as being of Least Concern, with an unknown population size whose trend is also unknown.<ref name=IUCN>{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2016 |title=White-backed Fire-eye ''Pyriglena leuconota'' |volume=2016 |article-number=e.T22730396A95027645 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22730396A95027645.en |access-date=17 August 2024}}</ref> "Due to its relatively small distribution, it may be more at risk from habitat destruction than other species, though it is more capable than many forest birds of persisting in older second growth."<ref name=TAFE-BOW/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q100869242}}

Tapajos fire-eye Tapajos fire-eye Tapajos fire-eye Category:Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN <!-- Pyriglena similis -->