Creamy-bellied Antwren
Herpsilochmus motacilloides
Small antwren found in the canopy of foothill forests of the eastern Andes in central Peru. Note the black cap, striped face, white wingbars, and lack of rufous in the wing. The slight yellowish tinge on the underparts for which the species is named is often hard to see in the field. Female has white spotting in the crown. While several other antwrens in Peru share similar plumage features, none of them occur in the range of this species. Song starts with a couple of peeping notes followed by a fast descending trill.
Identification
The creamy-bellied antwren is about 12 cm (4.7 in) long and weighs about 10.5 to 13 g (0.37 to 0.46 oz). Adult males have a black crown and nape, a white supercilium, a thin black streak through the eye, and white ear coverts. Their back and rump are gray or olive gray with white-tipped blackish scapulars and a small hidden white patch between them. Their wings are black with white tips on the coverts and white edges on the flight feathers. Their central tail feathers are black with small white tips; the rest are black with white tips that are progressively larger to the entirely white outermost pair. Their throat is white or pale yellow buff and their breast and belly pale yellow with a light gray wash on the sides of the breast and flanks. Adult females have a rusty brown forehead and a black streak behind the eye. Their crown and nape are black with white streaks. Their back and rump are olive gray with white-edged blackish scapulars. Their wings are black with white tips on the coverts and pale olive brown or whitish brown edges. Their tail is like the male's. Their throat is white and the rest of their underparts are like the male's. Adults have a brown iris, a black maxilla, a grayish blue mandible, and blue-gray or grayish blue legs and feet.
Taxonomy
For much of the twentieth century the creamy-bellied antwren was treated as a subspecies of the Bahia antwren (Herpsilochmus pileatus), though at least one study suggested that it was a species. In the early twenty-first century, phylogenetic and other analyses confirmed that it is a species. The creamy-bellied antwren and the ash-throated antwren (H. parkeri) are sister species.<p>The creamy-bellied antwren is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Herpsilochmus motacilloides
- Authority
- Taczanowski, 1874
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Thamnophilidae
- Genus
- Herpsilochmus
Range and habitat
The creamy-bellied antwren is found on the east side of the Peruvian Andes between the departments of Huánuco and Cuzco. It inhabits it interior and edges of humid montane forest where it favors areas with tall trees and much moss and epiphytes. In elevation it ranges between 900 and 2,100 m (3,000 and 6,900 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The creamy-bellied antwren is a year-round resident throughout its range.<p>The creamy-bellied antwren's diet has not been detailed but is known to include insects. It usually forages in pairs and often as a member of a mixed-species feeding flock. It mostly forages in the outer branches of trees, gleaning prey from leaves.<p>The creamy-bellied antwren is believed to be monogamous, but nothing else is known about its breeding biology.<p>The creamy-bellied antwren's song is "a rapid, accelerating series of rich notes, which rises slightly and then falls [with] two or three distinct introductory notes...chew-PEE-PEE kree’e’E’E’e’e’e’e’e’rr".
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Beaudouin's Snake-Eagle
Circaetus beaudouini
Chunky dark brown raptor with a white belly marked by thin bars. Immatures are brown when perched, and show rufous patches in the underwing in flight. Found in savanna habitats. Soars frequently and sometimes hovers. Very similar to Short-toed Snake-Eagle, but has darker upperparts and narrower dark bars on the belly; the front of the underwings looks white and unbarred in flight. Immature similar to immature Black-breasted and Short-toed Snake-Eagles, but identified by the rufous patches on the underwings.
Great-winged Petrel
Pterodroma macroptera
A medium-sized, bulky dark petrel with a large head and long pointed wings. It often shows a grizzled, gray scaly muzzle around the bill. It flies fast with a flexed wrist and its heavy head angled downward, giving it a characteristic appearance. It breeds on subantarctic islands between the Tristan group and western Australia, dispersing across the southern oceans between 30 and 50°S, where it is a deep ocean specialist. Several species are similar to Great-winged Petrel. Gray-faced Petrel, sometimes considered the same species, breeds off New Zealand and is almost identical except for a more extensive grizzled face patch. The smaller Kerguelen Petrel has a more contrasting silvery underwing. The gadfly petrels mostly have more pale patterning on the underwing or belly and lack the bulkiness of Great-winged Petrel.
Jamaican Pewee
Contopus pallidus
A small, plain woodland species often found flycatching from exposed perches at middle levels in the forest; often flicks tail once upon landing. Note that this species has relatively inconspicuous wingbars and no eyering. The similar Eastern Wood-Pewee has distinctly longer primaries (assessed by looking at how far the primaries extend beyond tertials), whitish wingbars, and rarely flicks its tail upon landing. The Greater Antillean Elaenia has bold white wingbars and an entirely dark bill unlike the Jamaican Pewee. Vocalizations include plaintive “wee-wee,” with the second note louder and both notes upslurred, a similarly plaintive ‘uh-weee-oo” with the middle portion upslurred, and a slightly rough, whistled “weeah.”
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.