Rufous Twistwing Cnipodectes superrufus VULNERABLE

Rufous Twistwing
This large tyrannid is a Guadua bamboo specialist that has been found at a number of sites in SE Peru and adjacent Bolivia. The first specimen was collected in 1990, but it was misidentified as Rufous Casiornis. Currently known from only a few sites in the departments of Madre de Dios and Cuzco, the species life history is very poorly known. To date, the only other species of Cnipodectes, C. subbrunneus (Brownish Twistwing), is not known from most of southeastern Peru. In all the authors’ encounters with C. superrufus, the individuals perched 1-3 m off the ground and sallied for arthropods, changing perches with each foraging maneuver. Estimated foraging maneuver is about every 30 s as the bird progressed along a 30-m-wide bamboo corridor between two pastures. Also noticed is that the species performs a lethargic wing-raising behavior, similar to that reported for C. subbrunneus.
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