Western woodhaunter

At one time what is now the western woodhaunter was included in genus Hyloctistes but molecular phylogenetic studies showed that Hyloctistes is embedded within Automolus.[3][4]

Even before the generic merger, the western woodhaunter's taxonomy was unsettled, and it remains so. Its four subspecies were included with two others in what was then called the striped woodhaunter (then H. subulatus, later A. subulatus). In the early twenty-first century several authors split the four Central American and western South American subspecies from the striped woodhaunter and named the new species the western woodhaunter (then H. virgatus, now A. virgatus). They gave the remaining two subspecies the English name eastern woodhaunter and by the principle of priority retained the binomial A. subulatus for it.[5] The International Ornithological Committee and BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) adopted the split, though HBW calls A. subulatus the Amazonian woodhaunter.[2][6] The North and South American Classification Committees of the American Ornithological Society (AOS) and the Clements taxonomy have not adopted the split. Both subcommittees of the AOS note that some authors suggest the split, and Clements recognizes virgatus and subulatus/lemae groups within the striped woodhaunter.[7][8][9]

The four subspecies of the western woodhaunter are:[2]

• A. v. nicaraguae (Miller, W. & Griscom, 1925)
• A. v. virgatus (Lawrence, 1867)
• A. v. assimilis von Berlepsch & Taczanowski, 1884
• A. v. cordobae (Meyer de Schauensee, 1960)

The western woodhaunter is 17 to 18 cm (6.7 to 7.1 in) long and weighs about 35 g (1.2 oz). It is a fairly large member of its genus and has a shortish and heavy bill. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies A. v. virgatus have a mostly dark brownish face with golden-buff streaks, a pale eyering and stripe behind the eye, and grizzled brownish and buff lores. Their crown is blackish brown with golden-buff streaks that widen as they extend onto the blackish brown back. Their rump is dull rusty olivaceous brown, their uppertail coverts deep reddish cinnamon, and their tail a lighter cinnamon than the uppertail coverts. Their wings are dull cinnamon brown with brownish black on the flight feathers. Their chin and throat are pale fawn with faint brownish feather edges. Their breast is a deeper fawn with dusky feather edges. Their belly, flanks, and undertail coverts are olivaceous brown. Their iris is brown, their bill brownish black with some yellow on the mandible, and their legs and feet brown. Subspecies A. v. nicaraguae has blackish brown upperparts and slightly lighter underparts than the nominate. A. v. assimilis has a more reddish brown back than the nominate, a darker chestnut-rufous rump, uppertail coverts, and tail, and a strong olivaceous wash on the breast. A. v. cordobae has an unstreaked back and nearly unmarked underparts.[5][10][11][12]

The subspecies of the western woodhaunter are found thus:[2][5]

• A. v. nicaraguae: southeastern Nicaragua with a few records in Honduras
• A. v. virgatus: Costa Rica into Panama as far as Veraguas Province
• A. v. assimilis: from Eastern Panama south through western Colombia and most of the length of western Ecuador
• A. v. cordobae: northern Colombia's Córdoba, Antioquia, Bolívar, Santander, and Boyacá departments

The western woodhaunter inhabits humid forest and woodlands in foothills and the lower montane zone. In elevation it mostly occurs below 1,100 m (3,600 ft), but locally reaches about 1,500 m (4,900 ft) in Costa Rica, Panama, and Ecuador.[5][10][12]

The IUCN has assessed the western woodhaunter as being of Least Concern. It has a large range, but its population size is not known and is believed to be decreasing. No immediate threats have been identified.[1] It occurs in a few protected areas.[5]