Melanopareiidae

Melanopareiidae, the crescentchests, is a small family of South American passerine birds containing four species in the single genus Melanopareia, found in central and southern Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, northern Argentina, Peru and Ecuador. These small birds, 14 to 16 centimeters long and weighing 16 to 23 grams, take their name from a distinctive band across the chest, and have relatively long tails compared to the tapaculos they were once grouped with. They live in arid scrub and forage mostly on the ground. The family was separated from the tapaculo family Rhinocryptidae and given its own family status in 2007, formally erected in 2009. None of the four species is currently listed as threatened, though the Marañón crescentchest is considered near threatened because of its very small range.