Designed by Paul Smith 2006. This website is copyrighted by law.
Material contained herewith may not be used without the prior written permission of FAUNA Paraguay.
Material on this page was provided by Paul Smith, Regis Nossent and Alberto Esquivel and is used with their permission.
SOUTHERN ANTPIPIT Corythopis delalandi
Pipit-like in appearance, but not in habitat preference, for the antpipit is a bird of dense humid forest undergrowth. Here he walks purposefully through the leaf-litter, nodding his head and flicking his tail along the way, and occasionally making short upward flights to snatch an insect from the underside of a leaf with an audible snapping of the bill. This snapping is also used as a defence against predators, netted birds doing so forcefully that you fear their slender bills may break under the pressure. You are most likely to find one by following these snaps or his loud, clear, whistling song to their source, The antpipit has a chequered taxonomic history, nobody seems to know quite who his closest relatives are, but most authorities now consider him to be an aberrant Tyrant Flycatcher (Tyrannidae).
Click on the images to enlarge them.
FIGURE 1 - (FPAVE1814PH) Adult, Hotel Tirol, Departamento Itapúa (Regis Nossent June 2005).
FIGURE 2 - (FPAVE1815PH) Same individual upperwing (Paul Smith June 2005).
FIGURE 3 - (FPAVE1816PH) Same individual ventral view (Regis Nossent June 2005).
VIDEO - (FPAVE1817VI) Adult singing, Hotel Tirol, Departamento Itapúa (Paul Smith March 2010).
FIGURE 1

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 2

FIGURE 2
FIGURE 3

FIGURE 3
Corythopis delalandi
1 (FPAVE1818RE) Call recorded PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Alberto Esquivel November 2006).
2 (FPAVE1819RE) Variant call recorded Estancia Kanguery, PN San Rafael (Alberto Esquivel November 2006)
3 (FPAVE1820RE) Bill snaps recorded PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Alberto Esquivel November 2006).
Click the link to hear the call. Longer versions of this call can be downloaded from the Paraguay page of our partner website www.xeno-canto.com - the largest collection of freely downloadable Neotropical bird calls available online.