White-throated Spadebill

9 cm. Small and short tailed with a large head and a wide bill. Olive-brown above with a concealed yellow crown patch, a white superciliary stripe and a black eye stripe ending in a black crescent ear spot which continues onto a black malar stripe. No wing bars. Throat white. Below yellow, the chest with strong olive-brown wash. Makes a variety of sounds. The song is a fast trill with increasing pitch "titititititititititik" sometimes starting off with a very high whistle "wii tititititititititik". Calls are a single syllable like "squik" or "squek....", repeated, and a "zwik zwik zwik zwik". Close to the ground in dense forest, forages by performing upward strikes. Although quite inconspicuous, it is relatively easy to observe. Nest is an open cup ^106 . The common Spadebill in southeast Brazil. Fairly common in dense lower stratum below eye level of primary and secondary forest. Throughout. Generally rare below 500 meters but found at sea level in the south Jureia . Up to 1800 meters in the<8E>Serra Mantiqueira<8E>. 11508 Calls, Fazenda Intervales, 11<10>30<10>97. Cloudy, 28<91>C.: 11477 Calls. Fazenda Intervales, 11<10>29<10>97. Sunny, 27<91>C. Primary forest. With /Attila phoenicurus, Carpornis cucullatus, Saltator similis .: 16055 Calls and song. Fazenda Intervales, 11<10>30<10>97. Sunny, 27<91>C. Secondary forest. With /Tolmomyias sulphurescens, Procnias nudicollis, Automolus leucophthalmus, Turdus albicollis, Lipaugus lanioides, Saltator similis .: 10537 Calls. Jureia-Peruibe, 10<10>12<10>99. Cloudy, 22<91>C. Secondary dense forest. With /Vireo olivaceus .: 3118 Call. 10<10>25<10>99, Serra da Mantiqueira, near Hotel do Ype. Clear, 25<91>C. Secondary forest. With /Ramphotrigon megacephala, Cacicus haemorrhous, Trogon viridis .: 12827 Song. Cornell Cat 19860. Morro Pelado, Canela, Rio Grande do Sul, 12<10>23<10>76. With /Phyllomyias fasciatus, Chiroxiphia caudata . Recording by W. Belton.: 3593 >: