About Grallaria quitensis Lesson, 1844
The tawny antpitta, with the scientific name Grallaria quitensis Lesson, 1844, measures 16 to 18 cm (6.3 to 7.1 in) long and weighs between 58 and 81 g (2.0 and 2.9 oz). Males and females have identical plumage. Adult birds have pale buff lores and whitish coloration around the eye, set against an otherwise olive brown to rufous olive face. Most of their crown, nape, back, wings, and tail are pale brown to olive brown. Their crown and back carry a faint gray wash, while their rump is browner, almost clay-colored. Their primaries have pale buff leading edges and blackish to blackish olive trailing vanes. The chin and throat are whitish. The rest of their underparts are mostly tawny brown with indistinct white mottling. The center of the belly is whitish, the flanks are paler than the breast, and the undertail coverts are a richer rufescent tawny. They have a chestnut brown iris, a black to blackish gray bill that sometimes has a brownish base on the mandible, and dark brownish to blackish legs and feet. The tawny antpitta occurs along the Andes mountain spine, starting from Caldas Department in west-central Colombia, extending south through Ecuador, and reaching slightly into northern Peru located north and west of the Marañón River. It lives in páramo, as well as the semi-open edges of elfin forest and Polylepis forest. It appears to favor lakeshores and swampy areas. Its elevational range is between 2,200 and 4,000 m (7,200 and 13,100 ft) in Colombia, mostly between 3,000 and 4,500 m (9,800 and 14,800 ft) in Ecuador, and between 2,850 and 3,400 m (9,400 and 11,200 ft) in Peru.
