Tawny-faced Gnatwren
Microbates cinereiventris
Small wrenlike bird that often follows mixed flocks or ant swarms in the forest understory. Difficult to see well; look for tiny size, rufous cheek, white throat, and long straight bill. Similar to Long-billed Gnatwren but tail and bill shorter with generally darker and more contrasting plumage. Listen for harsh chattering calls and clear “peeew.”
Identification
The tawny-faced gnatwren is 9 to 11 cm (3.5 to 4.3 in) long and weighs 10 to 14 g (0.35 to 0.49 oz). The nominate subspecies has a rusty face with a rufous crown and a thin black stripe behind the eye. A wide black malar stripe ("moustache") separates its face from the white throat and upper breast; the last has thin black stripes. Its back is brown and its underparts are gray. The sexes are alike. The other subspecies differ in the intensity of their cheek and underparts colors, and some do not have the black stripe behind the eye.
Taxonomy
The International Ornithological Committee (IOC) and BirdLife International (BLI) recognize seven subspecies of tawny-faced gnatwren:<p>However, the South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society (SACC/AOS) and the Clements taxonomy have not accepted the three subspecies that Olson described but include them within M. c. peruvianus.
- Scientific name
- Microbates cinereiventris
- Authority
- (Sclater, PL, 1855)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Polioptilidae
- Genus
- Microbates
Range and habitat
The subspecies of tawny-faced gnatwren are distributed thus:<p>The tawny-faced gnatwren generally inhabits the lower strata of wet, humid, primary and secondary forest, mostly below 750 m (2,460 ft) elevation. The exception is M. c. unicus, which is "known only from a single specimen...[collected] on an undetermined date between 1930 and 1943" in a much drier biome.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The tawny-faced gnatwren's diet is primarily ants and other insects but also includes spiders. It forages through foliage and leaf litter while hopping through undergrowth near the ground. It regularly joins mixed-species foraging flocks but rarely follows army ant swarms.<p>Information on the tawny-faced gnatwren's breeding phenology is sparse. Nesting has been recorded in April in Costa Rica and between December and May in Colombia. The one fully-described nest was constructed of green moss with a soft inner lining. It was attached to the trunk and a limb of a broadleaf shrub and contained two eggs.<p>The tawny-faced gnatwren's song is "a series of soft, clear, plaintive notes, 'teeeeea' or 'teeeéuw'" [1]. Its most common call is "a nasal, complaining 'nyeeeh' or 'nyaaah'" [2]. It also makes a chatter [3].
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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