Gnateater

{{Short description|Family of birds}} {{Automatic taxobox | name = Gnateaters | image = Conopophaga castaneiceps 3.jpg | image_caption = Chestnut-crowned gnateater (''Conopophaga castaneiceps'') | taxon = Conopophagidae | authority = Garrod, 1877 | subdivision_ranks = Genera | subdivision = ''Conopophaga'' Vieillot, 1816 ''Pittasoma'' Cassin, 1860 }}

The '''gnateaters''' are a bird family, '''Conopophagidae''', consisting of twelve small suboscine passerine species in two genera, which occur in South and Central America.

==Taxonomy== The family Conopophagidae was introduced in 1877 by the English zoologist Alfred Henry Garrod.<ref>{{ cite journal | last=Garrod | first=Alfred Henry | author-link=Alfred Henry Garrod | year=1877 | title=Notes on the anatomy of passerine birds. Part II | journal=Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London | volume=1877:May-Dec. | pages=447–452 [452] | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/28518366 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | last1=Ames | first1=P. | last2=Heimerdinger | first2=M. | last3=Warter | first3=S. | date=1968 | title=The anatomy and systematic position of the antpipits Conopophaga and Corythopis | journal=Postilla | issue=114 | url=https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/peabody_museum_natural_history_postilla/114/ }}</ref> The family was formerly restricted to the gnateater genus ''Conopophaga'', but a molecular phylogenetic study published in 2005 found that the genus ''Pittasoma'' in the family Formicariidae was sister to ''Conopophaga''.<ref name=Rice2005a>{{Cite journal | last=Rice | first=Nathan H. | date=2005 | title=Phylogenetic relationships of antpitta genera (Passeriformes: Formicariidae) | journal=The Auk | volume=122 | issue=2 | pages=673–683 | doi=10.1093/auk/122.2.673 | doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name=Rice2005b>{{Cite journal | last=Rice | first=Nathan H. | date=2005 | title=Further evidence for paraphyly of the Formicariidae (Passeriformes) | journal=The Condor | volume=107 | issue=4 | pages=910–915 | doi=10.1093/condor/107.4.910 | doi-access=free}}</ref> The association between this genus and ''Conopophaga'' is also supported by traits in their natural history, morphology, and vocalizations.<ref name=Rice2005a/> The members of this family are very closely related to the antbirds and less closely to the antpittas and tapaculos. Due to their remote and dim habitat, gnateaters are a barely studied and poorly known family of birds.

== Description== [[Image:Conopophaga melanops - Black-cheeked Gnateater (male); Restinga de Bertioga State Park, São Paulo, Brazil.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Black-cheeked gnateater]] They are round, short-tailed, and long-legged birds, about {{cvt|12|–|15.5|cm}} in length, with ''Pittasoma'' being larger than ''Conopophaga''. They are quite upright when standing. All species are sexually dimorphic, although the extent of this varies greatly. Most ''Conopophaga'' species have a white tuft behind the eye.{{sfn|Whitney|2003|pp=736-737}}

==Distribution and habitat== Gnateaters are birds of the forest understory, bamboo stands, and the forest floor. The members of the genus ''Conopophaga'' are found in the Amazon and Orinoco basins, east and central Andean slopes, Atlantic Forest, and nearby regions, while the members of the genus ''Pittasoma'' are found in the Chocó, and Panama and Costa Rica. Some species live in impenetrable thickets; others live in more open forest. Most are entirely restricted to humid habitats, but several species extend into drier regions in eastern Brazil. While the members of the genus ''Conopophaga'' are always found near the forest floor, typically not rising more than 1.5 m above the ground, they also rarely travel or spend much time on the ground (though they do feed there; see diet). The members of the genus ''Pittasoma'' are more commonly seen hopping around on the ground.{{sfn|Whitney|2003|pp=737-738}}

==Behaviour and ecology== ===Food and feeding=== Gnateaters are insectivorous as the group name implies. The members of the genus ''Conopophaga'' feed mostly using two methods. One is to perch above the forest floor until prey is spotted, then lunge down to the ground to snatch it. Having landed on the ground to snatch the prey, it will not stay on the forest floor for more than a couple of seconds. The second method used is to glean insects directly from the foliage, trunks, and branches of low vegetation. Typical prey items include spiders, caterpillars, insect larvae, grasshoppers and beetles; individuals of some species have also been observed eating fruit and in one case a frog. Very little information is available on the diet of the two ''Pittasoma'', but they are presumably also insectivorous.{{sfn|Whitney|2003|p=740}}

== Species list == The family contains 12 species in two genera.<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| 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 2023 | title=Antthrushes, antpittas, gnateaters, tapaculos, crescentchests | work=IOC World Bird List Version 13.1 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/antthrushes/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=17 March 2023 }}</ref> {| class="wikitable" |- ! Image !! Genus !! Living species |- |120px || ''Conopophaga'' {{small|Vieillot, 1816}} || * Rufous gnateater, ''Conopophaga lineata'' * Chestnut-belted gnateater, ''Conopophaga aurita'' * Black-breasted gnateater, ''Conopophaga snethlageae'' * Hooded gnateater, ''Conopophaga roberti'' * Ash-throated gnateater, ''Conopophaga peruviana'' * Ceará gnateater, ''Conopophaga cearae'' * Slaty gnateater, ''Conopophaga ardesiaca'' * Chestnut-crowned gnateater, ''Conopophaga castaneiceps'' * Black-cheeked gnateater, ''Conopophaga melanops'' * Black-bellied gnateater, ''Conopophaga melanogaster'' |- |120px || ''Pittasoma'' {{small|Cassin, 1860}} || * Black-crowned antpitta, ''Pittasoma michleri'' * Rufous-crowned antpitta, ''Pittasoma rufopileatum'' |- |}

==References== ===Footnotes=== {{reflist}}

===Cited sources=== {{refbegin}} *{{ cite book | last=Whitney | first=B.M. | year=2003 | chapter=Family Conopophagidae (Gnateaters) | editor1-last=del Hoyo | editor1-first=J. | editor2-last=Elliott | editor2-first=A. | editor3-last=Christie | editor3-first=D.A. | title=Handbook of the Birds of the World | volume=8: Broadbills to Tapaculos | location=Barcelona | publisher=Lynx Edicions | pages=732–747 | isbn=978-84-87334-50-4 | chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/handbookofbirdso0008unse/page/732/mode/1up | chapter-url-access=registration }} {{refend}}

==External links== * [http://ibc.lynxeds.com/family/gnateaters-conopophagidae Internet Bird Collection.com: Gnateater videos, photos and sounds]

* Category:Tyranni Category:Birds of South America Category:Taxa named by Philip Sclater Category:Taxa named by Osbert Salvin Category:Taxa described in 1877