Conopophaga Vieillot, 1816 Pittasoma Cassin, 1860 The gnateaters are a bird family, Conopophagidae, consisting of twelve small suboscine passerine species in two genera, which occur in South and Central America.

The members of the genus Conopophaga are found in the Amazon and Orinoco basins, east and central Andean slopes, Atlantic Forest, and nearby regions, while the members of the genus Pittasoma are found in the Chocó, and Panama and Costa Rica.

The members of the genus Conopophaga feed mostly using two methods; one is to perch above the forest floor until prey is spotted, then lunge down to the ground to snatch it; having landed on the ground to snatch a prey item it will not remain on the forest floor for more than a couple of seconds.

The second method used is to glean insects directly from the foliage, trunks, and branches of low vegetation.

Typical prey items include spiders, caterpillars, insect larvae, grasshoppers and beetles; individuals of some species have also been observed eating fruit and in one case a frog.