Salvadori's Antwren
Myrmotherula minor
Rare short-tailed antwren found in the understory of humid forests where it is very active and is normally associated with mixed-species flocks. Males are gray with a black throat and dark wing coverts with white spots. Resembles White-flanked Antwren, but without the white on the flanks. Females have a grayish head, a buffy body, and lack the male’s wing spots. The song is a high-pitched “veet…veet.”
Identification
Salvadori's antwren is about 9 cm (3.5 in) long. It is a smallish bird with a short tail. Adult males are mostly gray that is lighter on the underparts. Their tail is gray with a black band near the end and white tips on the feathers. Their wings are gray with white-tipped blackish coverts. Their throat and the center of the upper breast are black; their crissum has blackish bars. Adult females have a gray head and olive-brown upperparts. Their tail and wings are dull rufous-brown; the tail feathers have russet edges and the wing coverts thin buff edges. Their throat is dingy white and the rest of their underparts deep buff that is deepest on the flanks and crissum. Subadult males lack the adult's black band on the tail.
Taxonomy
Salvadori's antwren is monotypic. It, the Rio Suno antwren (M. sunensis), and the slaty antwren (M. schisticolor) have similar morphology, behavior, and voices and may form a monophyletic group.<p>The species' English name honors Italian zoologist and ornithologist Tommaso Salvadori, who first described it.
- Scientific name
- Myrmotherula minor
- Authority
- Salvadori, 1864
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Thamnophilidae
- Genus
- Myrmotherula
Range and habitat
Salvadori's antwren is a bird of the Atlantic Forest. It found very spottily and locally in coastal eastern Brazil between Bahia and extreme northeastern Santa Catarina. It inhabits the understorey to mid-storey of evergreen forest and adjacent mature secondary forest in the lowlands and foothills. It favors the forest interior and usually occurs near running water. In elevation it mostly occurs below 500 m (1,600 ft) but is found as high as 900 m (3,000 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Salvadori's antwren is believed to be a year-round resident throughout its range.<p>The diet of Salvadori's antwren's diet is not known in detail but is probably mostly mostly insects and spiders. It forages singly, in pairs, or in family groups, and usually as part of a mixed-species feeding flock. It typically forages around the crown and perimeter of trees with medium-size to large leaves. It feeds mostly between about 4 and 8 m (10 and 30 ft) above the ground but will go as low as 1 m (3 ft) and as high as 12 m (40 ft). It seeks prey mostly by gleaning live leaves, and also takes prey from clusters of dead leaves, moss, and hanging Usnea lichen.<p>The breeding season of Salvadori's antwren includes October but is otherwise undefined. Nothing else is known about its breeding biology.<p>The song of Salvadori's antwren is "short twittering, starting extr. high, completed by liquid 'tyweet-tweet-tueet' ". Its calls include "variable...short whistles, given singly", "sharp chips, often in short series", and the same chips in a longer, more widely spaced, series.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Red-vented Barbet
Psilopogon lagrandieri
The brown-and-gray head of this barbet sets it apart from the bright facial patterns of most other species. Specks of blue, red, and yellow on the face are visible at close range. Body is emerald green with some tan-yellow hints on the underside and a red vent. Pale lower bill and pale throat give the head an oddly long appearance. Inhabits forests from lowland regions up into montane areas. Gives succinct mellow whistles at regular intervals, typically from sheltered perches up in the forest canopy.
Muscovy Duck
Cairina moschata
Large, hefty duck that has wild and domestic types. Wild birds are dark blackish overall with iridescent green and bronze, especially on the wings. Look for bold white wing patches in flight and red warts on the face (more extensive on males). Tends to be shy and most often seen in flight over extensive wetlands or along large rivers. Occurs extensively throughout Middle and South America, but typically scarce. Very restricted range in the U.S., only known from the Rio Grande Valley in Texas. Domestic birds, on the other hand, are regularly found walking around in parks and farms, looking for scraps of food and chasing native waterfowl. Plumage varies from all white to all black, typically with more extensive red warts on the face than wild birds. There is a well-established feral population in Florida, with smaller domestic populations spread across the globe.
Red-billed Oxpecker
Buphagus erythroryncha
A bulbul-sized olive-brown bird that sports a diagnostic all-red bill and a red eye surrounded by a fleshy yellow wattle. The juvenile lacks the bright bill and eye coloration. Small groups occur in savanna and farmland, where they require large wild ungulates and domestic stock to forage on; they clamber agilely over host mammals, gleaning ticks, mites, and other ectoparasites, and occasionally drinking host blood. As they fly between large mammals, they give a distinctive “tsik-tsik” call. The similar Yellow-billed Oxpecker differs from Red-billed Oxpecker by having a yellow bill base and pale rump and lacking an eye-wattle.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.