• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic note
For many years considered conspecific with broadly sympatric S. femoralis. Systematics, and ranges of subspecies listed, still unresolved: song in E Colombia and Ecuador (usually 1 second long, of 8–10 sharp upstroke notes at 2.5–2.6 kHz, even pace of 8–11 per second, song repeated at intervals of 1–3 seconds) very different from songs in SW Venezuela (c. 30 seconds, of sharp downstrokes at 2.8 kHz, 3–7 per second) and in Peru S & E of R Marañón (sharp 2.4–3 kHz downstroke, 4–7 per second, varying between single notes and short series of 2–7 at irregular intervals, or as continuous series for up to 30 seconds or more), suggesting that birds in E Andes of Colombia and Ecuador probably represent a separate species from populations to N, W and S; further study required. Three subspecies presently recognized.

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A., Fishpool, L.D.C., Boesman, P. and Kirwan, G.M. 2016. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: Passerines. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Population justification: The global population size has not been quantified, but this species is described as 'fairly common' (Stotz et al. 1996). This species is considered to have a high dependency on forest habitat, and tree cover is estimated to have declined by 3.1% within its mapped range over the past 10 years (Global Forest Watch 2022, using Hansen et al. [2013] data and methods disclosed therein). It is therefore tentatively suspected that this rate of cover loss may have led to a decline of between 1-19% in the species' population size over the same time frame, with a best estimate of reduction being less than 5%.

Trend justification:   .

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: White-crowned Tapaculo Scytalopus atratus. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/white-crowned-tapaculo-scytalopus-atratus on 18/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 18/12/2024.