Boyaca Antpitta Grallaria alticola and Atuen Antpitta G. atuensis are split from Tawny Antpitta G. quitensis (Clements 2007:306)

Summary: The Boyaca Antpitta of the northern and central Colombian Andes and the Atuen Antpitta of a tiny area of the north-central Andes of Peru are now considered separate species from the more widespread Tawny Antpitta of the southern Colombian and Ecuadorian Andes. All are found at higher elevations than most other antpittas.

Details: Grallaria alticola was originally described as a full species, though without explicit comparison to any other taxon (Todd 1919), while G. atuensis has always been considered a subspecies of G. quitensis until recently, and was indeed long known only from the type specimen (Peters 1951). Differences in vocalizations between the three taxa have been known for decades, and it has been suggested that three species are involved (Krabbe and Schulenberg 2003). Boesman (2016 [No. 72]) compared then-available recordings, in which (though limited in number) differences in both song and call support the three-way split enacted by del Hoyo and Collar (2016). Genetic analyses comparing these three taxa do not appear to be available. Largely on the basis of the vocal differences, WGAC and Clements et al. (2023) join HBW and BirdLife International (2022) and Gill et al. (2023; v.13.2) in the three-species treatment of the Grallaria quitensis complex, which has not yet been considered by SACC.

English names: The English names Boyaca Antpitta for G. alticola and Atuen Antpitta for G. atuensis reflect the type localities of each daughter species, while the English name for the widespread nominate is unchanged.