Hairy-crested Antbird
Rhegmatorhina melanosticta
Striking ant-following antbird. Chestnut brown, with a black face, ornate white eyering, and white or reddish-brown bushy crest. Usually forages in pairs or family groups around army ant swarms in mature rainforest; listen for its loud snarling calls to key in to these army ant swarms. Its song is a decelerating-accelerating series of high, wheezy whistles.
Identification
The hairy-crested antbird is 14 to 15 cm (5.5 to 5.9 in) long and weighs 29 to 33 g (1.0 to 1.2 oz). Both sexes have a large pale bluish white ring of bare skin around the eye, and adults have a bushy crest. Adult males of the nominate subspecies R. m. melanosticta have an olive-tinged gray crest. Their nape, the sides of their neck, and their upperparts, wings, and tail are olive-brown. The wing feathers have rufous edges and the tail is blackish towards its tip. Their lores, face, and throat are black and the rest of their underparts dark olive-brown. Adult females are like males with the addition of short black bars with cinnamon-rufous edges on their upper back feathers and wing coverts. Subadult males do not have a crest; their crown is blackish, their upperparts like adult females', and their underparts have some blackish feathers. Subspecies R. m. brunneiceps is more rufescent than the nominate, with a black-streaked rufous to light brown crown and darker underparts. R. m. purusiana and R. m. badia are somewhat variable but paler than the nominate, and females have smaller black bars on their back.
Taxonomy
The hairy-crested antbird was described by the English ornithologists Philip Sclater and Osbert Salvin in 1880 and given the binomial name Pithys melanosticta. The present genus Rhegmatorhina was introduced by the American ornithologist Robert Ridgway in 1888. The specific epithet melanosticta is from the Ancient Greek melanostiktos meaning "black-spotted". It combines melas meaning "black" and stiktos meaning "spotted". The five members of genus Rhegmatorhina are sisters to the three species of genus Gymnopithys.<p>The hairy-crested antbird's taxonomy is unsettled. The International Ornithological Committee assigns it these four subspecies:<p>The Clements taxonomy and BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World include R. m. badia within R. m. purusiana. Some taxonomists have suggested that more than one species is present, and specifically that R. m. brunneiceps should be treated as a separate species.<p>This article follows the four-subspecies model.
- Scientific name
- Rhegmatorhina melanosticta
- Authority
- (Sclater, PL & Salvin, 1880)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Thamnophilidae
- Genus
- Rhegmatorhina
Range and habitat
The subspecies of the hairy-crested antbird are found thus:<p>The hairy-crested antbird primarily inhabits the understorey of humid terra firme evergreen forest though it also occurs in transitional forest between it and seasonally flooded areas. In elevation it reaches 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in Colombia, 750 m (2,500 ft) in Ecuador, and 1,350 m (4,400 ft) in Peru.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The hairy-crested antbird is believed to be a year-round resident.<p>The hairy-crested antbird is an obligate ant follower that feeds on a variety of arthropods that flee foraging army ant swarms, such as those of Eciton burchelli. It typically forages individually, in pairs, and in family groups, perching within about 1 m (3 ft) of the ground and sallying or pouncing to the ground after prey. Several family groups may attend an ant swarm. It is dominant over smaller antbirds but subordinate to larger antbirds and species of other families such as woodcreepers.<p>The hairy-crested antbird's breeding season in Peru spans at least September to December; its breeding season elsewhere is not known. Five nests discovered in Peru were cups or shallow beds, mostly made of strips of palm frond, and variably placed atop a stump or in a cavity. The usual clutch size is two pinkish eggs with brown to maroon spots and streaks. The one known period from hatch to fledging was 14 days. The incubation period and details of parental care are not known.<p>One author described the hairy-crested antbird's song as a "slow series, starting with a few very high, sharp, fluted notes, then descending to a few drawn-out, grating notes". Others describe it as "a short series of wheezy, somewhat nasal whistled notes, e.g., 'wheeeyr, wheer-wheer-wheer-wheer' with descending effect". Its calls include a "harsh, vibrant 'chirr' [and an] abrupt 'chip' ".
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Olive-green Camaroptera
Camaroptera chloronota
A short-tailed warbler-like bird of humid forest. Dull overall with an olive-green back and wings. The color of the underparts varies geographically: gray in the western part of the range and brown with a white belly in the east. Inhabits rainforest and secondary growth, where it typically skulks in dense understory. Similar to White-tailed Warbler, but lacks white in the outer tail. Somewhat similar to Green-backed Camaroptera, but found in denser forest and has duller coloration overall, without a bright green wing. Usually detected by its remarkable song: a fast series of high-pitched whistles that can go on for minutes. Also gives a bleating call like other camaropteras.
Mexican Duck
Anas diazi
Both sexes look like a dark-colored female Mallard. Bill of male is dull yellowish; bill of female is mottled orange and black, like a typical Mallard. In flight, bright white underwings contrast with dark body. Note distinct white stripe in front of iridescent panel on upperwing, compare to Mottled Duck (limited range overlap). Usually in pairs or small flocks; wary in most areas, but in some city parks and urban settings has become fairly tame. In some areas of sw. US, hybridizes with Mallard, producing birds with variably intermediate features.
Red-browed Treecreeper
Climacteris erythrops
A gray-brown treecreeper with a rusty red eyebrow and pale throat and chest. Belly strongly streaked white.Viewed from behind, gray head contrasts with browner back. (White-throated Treecreeper has a brownish head and brownish back.) In flight, shows a broad pale wing-bar. Works its way up tree trunks. Usually found in very wet eucalypt forests; overlaps in habitat with White-throated Treecreeper. Calls are more raspy and insect-like than in White-throated Treecreeper.
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