Crescent-faced Antpitta Grallaricula lineifrons Scientific name definitions

The Crescent-faced Antpitta is one of the most strikingly plumaged members of the genus, perhaps even of the entire Grallariidae family. There is no recorded geographic variation within the limited range of this species. Adults are dark brown above with a slate-gray crown and nape, a bold white crescent in front of the eye, and densely streaked buff to whitish underparts. Almost nothing is known of the biology of this species, which currently is considered Near Threatened due to ongoing habitat fragmentation. Although the type specimen was collected in northeastern Ecuador in 1923, the Crescent-faced Antpitta remained unknown in life until nearly 50 years later. Today, based on regular reports and sightings by tourists and researchers, it is known to be more widespread than was previously thought, inhabiting the undergrowth of humid forests at elevations around 3,000 m. Its known distribution is nevertheless somewhat patchy, extending from southern Colombia to southern Ecuador along the eastern slope of the Andes. Only recently, 90 years after its formal description, was breeding of the Crescent-faced Antpitta reported in the literature, based on a single nest found very close to the type locality in northeastern Ecuador.