Yellow-throated spadebill
{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{Use American English|date=March 2025}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Yellow-throated spadebill
| image = Platyrinchus flavigularis - Yellow-throated Spadebill (cropped).jpg
| image_caption =
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| genus = Platyrinchus
| species = flavigularis
| authority = Sclater, PL, 1862
| synonyms = *Platyrhynchus flavigularis
| range_map = Platyrinchus flavigularis map.svg
}}
The yellow-throated spadebill (Platyrinchus flavigularis) is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.{{cite web |url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/bow/flycatchers/ |title=Tyrant flycatchers |website=IOC World Bird List |version =v 15.1 | editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen |date=March 2025 |access-date=March 3, 2025 }}
Taxonomy and systematics
The yellow-throated spadebill was originally described as Platyrhynchus flavigularis.{{cite journal | last=Sclater |first=Philip L. |title=Descriptions of Twelve New Species of American Bird, of the families Dendrocolaptidae, Formicariidae, and Tyrannidae [italics in original] | date= 1862 | journal=Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London |volume=1861 |page=382 |language=Latin, English |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/28672928}}
The yellow-throated spadebill has two subspecies, the nominate P. f. flavigularis (Sclater, PL, 1862) and P. f. vividus (Phelps, WH & Phelps, WH Jr, 1952). The subspecies have essentially the same appearance and "further work [is] required to confirm [the] true taxonomic status" of them.Tello, J. (2020). Yellow-throated Spadebill (Platyrinchus flavigularis), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.yetspa1.01 retrieved March 20, 2025
Description
The yellow-throated spadebill is {{convert|9.5|to|10.2|cm|in|abbr=on}} long. It has a large head and a stubby tail. The sexes and subspecies have the same plumage. Adults have a mostly bright rufous-brown head with a partially hidden white patch in the center of the crown and a yellowish spot on the lores. Their upperparts are olive and their wings and tail are dusky olive. Their throat is bright yellow and their underparts mostly pale yellow with an indistinct olivaceous band across the breast. They have a dark iris, a wide flat bill with a blackish maxilla, a pale yellow mandible with a brighter yellow base, and pink legs and feet.
Distribution and habitat
The yellow-throated spadebill apparently has a disjunct distribution, though some of the known separate populations may be linked. The nominate subspecies is found intermittently in Colombia's Eastern Andes, on the eastern slope of the Andes in Ecuador between Napo and Zamora-Chinchipe provinces, and on the eastern slope of the Andes of Peru between Amazonas and Cuzco departments. Subspecies P. f. vividus is found in the Serranía del Perijá on the Colombia-Venezuela border, in the Andes of Venezuela in southeastern Lara and southeastern Táchira states, and possibly in the Venezuelan Coastal Range in southeastern Carabobo. The species generally inhabits the undergrowth of foothill and montane forest. In Ecuador it appears to favor ridgetops whose forest has a rather open understory. In elevation it ranges between {{convert|1350|and|2400|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}} in Colombia, {{convert|750|and|1700|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}} in Ecuador, {{convert|1200|and|2000|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}} in Peru. and {{convert|1250|and|2100|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}} in Venezuela.{{cite book | last1 =McMullan | first1 =Miles | last2 =Donegan | first2 =Thomas M. | last3 =Quevedo | first3 =Alonso | title = Field Guide to the Birds of Colombia | publisher = Fundación ProAves| date =2010 | location =Bogotá | pages =158 |isbn =978-0-9827615-0-2 }}{{cite book | last1 =Ridgely | first1 =Robert S. | last2 =Greenfield | first2 =Paul J. | title =The Birds of Ecuador: Field Guide | publisher =Cornell University Press | volume = II| date =2001 | location =Ithaca | pages =493 | isbn =978-0-8014-8721-7 }}{{cite book | last1 =Schulenberg | first1 =T.S. | last2 =Stotz | first2 =D.F. | last3 =Lane | first3 =D.F. | last4 =O'Neill | first4 =J.P. | last5 =Parker | first5 =T.A. III | title =Birds of Peru | publisher =Princeton University Press | edition =revised and updated |series=Princeton Field Guides | date =2010 | location =Princeton, NJ | pages =440 |isbn = 978-0691130231 }}{{cite book | last =Hilty | first =Steven L. | title =Birds of Venezuela | publisher =Princeton University Press | edition =second | date =2003 | location =Princeton NJ | pages =601 | language =English }}{{excessive citations inline|date=March 2025}}
Behavior
=Movement=
=Feeding=
The yellow-throated spadebill is assumed to feed on arthropods, and its foraging behavior has not been documented. It is "[d]ifficult to observe; often perches motionless in the open for extended periods".
=Breeding=
=Vocalization=
Status
The IUCN has assessed the yellow-throated spadebill as being of Least Concern. It has a large range; its population size is not known and is believed to be decreasing. No immediate threats have been identified. It is considered "uncommon and local" in Colombia, "scarce and inconspicuous" in Ecuador, "apparently rare and local" in Peru, and "very spotty [but] at least locally fairly common" in Venezuela.{{excessive citations inline|date=March 2025}} Its "[c]onservation status probably merits re-assessment".