Blackish Tapaculo vs Choco Tapaculo

Scytalopus latrans compared with Scytalopus chocoensis

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Blackish Tapaculo	Choco Tapaculo
Kingdom same	Animalia (животные)	Animalia (животные)
Phylum same	Chordata (хордовые)	Chordata (хордовые)
Class same	Aves (птицы)	Aves (птицы)
Order same	Passeriformes (воробьинообразные)	Passeriformes (воробьинообразные)
Family same	Rhinocryptidae	Rhinocryptidae
Genus same	Scytalopus	Scytalopus
Species	Scytalopus latrans	Scytalopus chocoensis

Evolutionary Relationship

Blackish Tapaculo and Choco Tapaculo share a common ancestor at the Genus level: Scytalopus.

Conservation Status

Blackish Tapaculo

LC — Least Concern

Choco Tapaculo

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Blackish Tapaculo	Choco Tapaculo
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Blackish Tapaculo

Habitat

Typically found in various aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.

Range

Distributed across Colombia, Ecuador, Norway, and Venezuela.

Choco Tapaculo

Habitat

Typically found in various aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.

Range

Distributed across Colombia, Ecuador, and Norway.

Blackish Tapaculo

Blackish Tapaculo (Scytalopus latrans) is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List. Widespread and abundant across its range, with stable populations and no immediate conservation concerns.

Choco Tapaculo

The Choco Tapaculo (Scytalopus chocoensis) is a small, secretive bird in the family Rhinocryptidae, endemic to the Chocó biogeographic region of the Pacific slope of Colombia and northwestern Ecuador. Tapaculos are among the most cryptic and difficult-to-observe birds in the Neotropics, living in dense undergrowth close to the forest floor and rarely venturing into the open. They are typically dark grey to blackish overall with barred or brownish flanks, and are most reliably identified by their loud, distinctive territorial songs — a series of repeated notes that carry well through dense vegetation. The Choco Tapaculo inhabits humid foothill and montane forest understory, particularly in areas with dense shrubbery, bamboo, and moss-covered logs on the forest floor, at elevations roughly between 500 and 2,000 metres. It forages terrestrially among leaf litter for small invertebrates including beetles, ants, and other arthropods. The IUCN classifies this species as Least Concern given its occurrence across a reasonably wide elevational band in relatively intact Andean foothills. The ongoing decline of Chocó forest at lower elevations, however, means that foothill-specialised species like this tapaculo face progressive habitat loss and upslope range compression.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 3 countries:

🇨🇴 Colombia 🇪🇨 Ecuador 🇳🇴 Norway