Peruvian Plantcutter

The Peruvian plantcutter is 18 to 20 cm (7.1 to 7.9 in) long; four individuals weighed 37.2 to 46.6 g (1.3 to 1.6 oz). The sexes have different plumage. Adult males have a mostly bluish gray head with bright orange-rufous lores and a shaggy crest. Their upperparts are bluish gray, sometimes with some dusky streaks on the back. Their wings' lesser coverts are bluish gray, the median coverts black with large white tips that form a wide wing bar, and the greater coverts black with white edges and tips. The wing's tertials are black with white edges and the rest of the flight feathers blackish dusky. Their tail is dusky with wide white tips on all but the central pair of feathers. Their central underparts from the lower breast to the undertail coverts are bright orange-rufous. Adult females have a mostly whitish head and upperparts with heavy dusky streaks. Their rump is whitish with thinner streaks and their uppertail coverts grayish with white tips. Their wings' lesser coverts are like the back, the median coverts black with large white tips, and the greater coverts black with white edges and tips. The white on the coverts form two wing bars. The wing's tertials are black with white edges and the rest of the flight feathers dusky. Their tail is dusky with distinct white tips on the outer two pairs of feathers and diffuse white tips on the rest except the central pair. …

The Peruvian plantcutter is found in coastal northern Peru from Tumbes Department south to Ancash Department. Its distribution is very local along that band. It inhabits a variety of dry to arid landscapes including dry forest with a shrubby understory, desert scrublands, and thickets along watercourses through dry areas. It tends to favor slopes rather than flatlands. Some sources place its upper elevational limit at 300 m (1,000 ft) and others at 550 m (1,800 ft). A 2022 publication added sightings up to 1,550 m (5,100 ft).

The Peruvian plantcutter feeds on many parts of a wide variety of trees and shrubs including buds, flowers, shoots, and leaves. Fruits apparently are also a minor part of its diet. It usually forages in pairs or small groups and feeds mostly in the vegetation's canopy.