An active nest of Moustached Antpitta Grallaria alleni has recently been found at Reserva Las Gralarias, Pichincha. The species inhabits subtropical (cloud)forest on both east and west slope of the Andes and was first discovered in Ecuador about ten years ago (Krabbe and Coopmans 2000 in Ibis 142: 183–187). The breeding biology of this rare and elusive species is little known. The cup-shaped nest was located ca. 1.4m above the ground and contained two pale bluish eggs which hatched on 3 March 2010.

Moustached Antpitta is a relatively common resident inside the forest of Reserva Las Gralarias (found mostly between 1800 and 2000m asl.). Birds were especially vocal in the first week of January 2010 and at that time we recorded at least seven different territories within the reserve.

Dušan M. Brinkhuizen and Jane Lyons

►Back to the News