Identification

The White-throated Antpitta is a rather simply plumaged, medium sized Grallaria, sharing the distinctive morphological characters of its congeners: a plump body, short tail, and notably long tarsi. It is an aptly named species, with a bright white throat contrasting strongly with the chestnut-rufous head, brownish upperparts, and gray underparts.

In most areas where it occurs, its clean white throat and prominent ocular ring make the White-throated Antpitta nearly unmistakable. In the northern portion of its range, however, in Cuczo, Peru, it may occur sympatrically with one similar species, the Red-and-white Antpitta (Grallaria erythroleuca). Even in this region, however, there is only very limited elevational overlap, as the Red-and-white Antpitta occurs from 2,100–3,000 m, whereas the White-throated Antpitta occurs at 1,150–2,100 m. Both species have a reddish-brown crown and a white throat, but the back and wings of the White-throated Antpitta are olive-brown, not reddish-brown as in Red-and-white Antpitta, and the breast and belly of the White-throated Antpitta are pale gray, without a reddish breast band and rufous flanks (1 Clements, J. F., and N. Shany (2001). A Field Guide to the Birds of Peru. Ibis Publishing Company, Temecula, CA, USA. Close , 2 Schulenberg, T. S., and G. M. Kirwan (2012). White-throated Antpitta (Grallaria albigula). In Neotropical Birds Online (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor), Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY. Available at https://doi.org/10.2173/nb.whtant2.01. Close ). Further south, another congener, the Rufous-faced Antpitta (Grallaria erythrotis), is also largely found at elevations above the range of White-throated Antpitta. Unlike the present species, it has a dark crown contrasting with a rufous face (3 Ridgely, R. S., and G. Tudor (1994). The Birds of South America. Volume 2. University of Texas Press, Austin, Texas, USA. Close , 4 Greeney, H. F. (2018). Antpittas and Gnateaters. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).