Birds Guide

The Tuftedcheeks are passerine birds in the genus Pseudocolaptes of the ovenbird family. The three species occur in the mountains of the tropical New World from Costa Rica to Bolivia. They are:

• Streaked Tuftedcheek, Pseudocolaptes boissonneautii
  Buffy Tuftedcheek, Pseudocolaptes lawrencii
  Pacific Tuftedcheek, Pseudocolaptes johnsoni

They are sometimes considered conspecific.

They occur as resident breeders in wet mountain forests with many epiphytes, normallyabove 1500 m. The female lays one white egg in a thickly lined old woodpecker nest or other tree cavity. One parent, probably the female, incubates the single white egg for about 29 days to hatching

The Tuftedcheeks are 20-22 cm long weigh 48 g, and have long bright rufous tails, mainly brown upperparts, and a pale-streaked dark brown cap to the head. The feature that gives the group its English name is the tuft of buff or whitish feathers on each cheek. The throat is the same colour as the tufts.

The Tuftedcheeks forage actively amongst mosses, vines, bromeliads and other epiphytes for insects, spiders, and even small amphibians. They will join mixed feeding flocks in the middle levels of the mountain forests.

References

• Hilty, Birds of Venezuela by, ISBN 0-7136-6418-5
• Stiles and Skutch, A guide to the birds of Costa Rica ISBN 0-0814-9600-4