About Anabacerthia variegaticeps (P.L.Sclater, 1857)
The scaly-throated foliage-gleaner, scientifically named Anabacerthia variegaticeps, is 15 to 17 cm (5.9 to 6.7 in) long and weighs 19 to 25 g (0.67 to 0.88 oz). It is a medium-sized furnariid with a wedge-shaped bill. Males and females have identical plumage. For adults of the nominate subspecies, the bird has a wide ochraceous buff eyering and supercilium, with a dark brown line behind the eye. Its lores and ear coverts are dark brown and dull buff, and sometimes have a reddish wash. Its crown is dull grayish brown with faint buff streaks; its nape and upper back are dark dull brown, and the remainder of its back, rump, and uppertail coverts are rich rufescent brown. Its tail is chestnut. Its wings are mostly rich rufescent brown, with dark brown and rufescent brown primary coverts. Its throat and the sides of its neck are pale whitish buff with a faint scalloped appearance. Its breast is light brown with faint scallops and streaks, its belly is unstreaked medium brown, and its flanks and undertail coverts are darker brown with a rufescent tinge. Its iris is brown, its maxilla is dark fuscous to dark gray-brown, its mandible is dull greenish horn to grayish, and its legs and feet are dull yellowish green to olive-green. Juveniles have a more pronounced scaly pattern on the throat and breast than nominate adults, and their breast and belly are more ochraceous. Subspecies A. v. schaldachi has a grayer crown, grayer (less rufescent) upperparts, and less scalloping on the throat than the nominate subspecies. Subspecies A. v. temporalis differs significantly from the nominate: it is much darker and more heavily marked overall, with almost blackish markings on the face, conspicuous streaks on the crown, a more chestnut-colored back, and blurry rich brown and ochraceous streaks on the breast. Regarding distribution and habitat, subspecies A. v. schaldachi is found in southwestern Mexico. The nominate subspecies occurs discontinuously from southern Mexico to western Panama, and is not present in Venezuela. A. v. temporalis is found in Colombia's Western Andes, and ranges south along the western slope of the Andes and coastal mountains through Ecuador almost to Peru. The species' habitat varies by geographic location. In northern Central America, it inhabits semi-deciduous forest, rainforest, and cloudforest, mostly at elevations between 350 and 2,500 m (1,100 and 8,200 ft), and occurs locally at both higher and lower elevations. In Costa Rica, it mostly lives at elevations between 800 and 1,800 m (2,600 and 5,900 ft). In Colombia and Ecuador, it inhabits montane evergreen forest in the foothills and subtropical zones; in Colombia it occurs at elevations between 600 and 2,000 m (2,000 and 6,600 ft), and in Ecuador between 700 and 1,700 m (2,300 and 5,600 ft).
