Conopophagidae

Conopophagidae, the gnateaters, is a family of small suboscine passerine birds comprising twelve species in two genera, formally established in 1877 and later expanded through molecular phylogenetic study to include the genus Pittasoma. The family occurs across South and Central America, with ranges spanning the Amazon and Orinoco basins, the Andean slopes, the Atlantic Forest, the Choco region, and parts of Panama and Costa Rica. Gnateaters are round, short-tailed and long-legged birds about 12 to 15.5 centimeters long, with Pittasoma larger than the genus Conopophaga, sexually dimorphic, and most Conopophaga species carry white tufts behind the eyes. They live in forest understory and on the forest floor, feeding on insects by perching and lunging at prey or by gleaning it from vegetation.