Varied Solitaire

The varied solitaire is 16 to 18 cm (6.3 to 7.1 in) long and weighs 24 to 34 g (0.85 to 1.2 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a smudgy blackish forehead, face, and chin on an otherwise pale slate-gray head and neck. Their back, rump, and uppertail coverts are warm brown. Their wings have warm brown upperwing coverts and blackish primary coverts and flight feathers. Their tail is blackish with paler outer feathers and pale gray feather tips. Their underparts are pale slate-gray. They have a yellow bill and yellow legs and feet. Juveniles have olive-brown upperparts with whitish and buffy streaks and spots, a black tail, and brownish underparts with white spots.

The varied solitaire has a disjunct distribution. It is found in eastern Panama in the Serranía de Majé, on Cerro Tacarcuna, and on Cerro Pirre. It also is found on Alto de Nique and Cerro Quía on the Panama-Colombia border. It inhabits montane evergreen forest and cloudforest in the upper tropical and subtropical zones. One source states its overall elevation range as 800 to 2,200 m (2,600 to 7,200 ft). Another places it mostly from 1,100 to 1,500 m (3,600 to 4,900 ft) and lower at 900 m (3,000 ft) on the summit of Cerro Quía in Panama. A third places it at 800 to 1,000 m (2,600 to 3,300 ft) in Colombia.

The varied solitaire's diet and foraging behavior have not been studied. It is known to feed on fruit.