Bare-eyed Antbird
Rhegmatorhina gymnops
Fantastic-looking antbird with a bold whitish bare eye-ring and a restricted range. Males have a black head and breast, and are otherwise cinnamon-brown; females are duller around the head, but otherwise also cinnamon. Occurs in the understory of humid forest, where almost invariably found attending army-ant swarms. Song is a short series of high descending notes, ending in a harsh “churr.”
Identification
The bare-eyed antbird is 13.5 to 14.5 cm (5.3 to 5.7 in) long and weighs about 27 to 30 g (0.95 to 1.1 oz). Both sexes have a crest and a pale grayish green ring of bare skin around the eye. Adult males have a blackish gray head and upper breast. Their upperparts and tail are dark reddish yellow-brown and their wings a brighter rufous. Their belly and vent area are dark grayish brown with somewhat browner flanks. Adult females have a brownish black head and throat. Their upperparts, wings, and tail are the same as the male's. Their underparts are dark yellowish brown. Juvenile males resemble adult males but are browner; juveniles of both sexes have a rufous tinge to their dark brown feathers. All ages and sexes have a dark brown iris and darkish gray legs and feet. Adults have a dark bill and juveniles have a dark maxilla and a pale mandible.
Taxonomy
The bare-eyed antbird was formally described by the American ornithologist Robert Ridgway in 1888 and given the binomial name Rhegmatorhina gymnops. The five members of genus Rhegmatorhina are sisters to the three species of genus Gymnopithys. The bare-eyed antbird is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Rhegmatorhina gymnops
- Authority
- Ridgway, 1888
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Thamnophilidae
- Genus
- Rhegmatorhina
Range and habitat
The bare-eyed antbird has a limited range in southeastern Amazonian Brazil. It is bounded by the Amazon on the north, the Rio Tapajós on the west, and the Rio Xingu on the east. Its southern border is not well known but extends at least to the Teles Pires in northern Mato Grosso state. The species almost entirely inhabits the understorey of very humid terra firme primary rainforest, though it has also been recorded in várzea. Its range is entirely below 400 m (1,300 ft) of elevation.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Gymnoris xanthocollis
A small, drab, unstreaked sparrow with one, sometimes two prominent white wingbars. Gray-brown above, pale brown to whitish on underparts. Male has an indistinct eyebrow, an inconspicuous pale yellow spot on throat, and light chestnut on shoulders. Juvenile resembles female. The familiar call is a distinctive “chilp” that it gives mostly while perching high. Inhabits light forests, scrub jungles, villages, and cultivated areas.
White-bearded Hermit
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Large gray and green hermit of understory rainforest. Gray below, green above with gray rump and white long central tail feathers. Fairly long, slightly downcurved bill, and prominent white throat and moustache. Sexes similar. Similar to Great-billed Hermit, which is more tawny brown overall (not gray), and has a red or orange lower mandible (not yellow). Found in a variety of lowland rainforest habitats; most common around forest edges, along rivers, and around heliconias.
Campo Flicker
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Large and typically terrestrial woodpecker. Found in open habitats such as savannas and grasslands and often seen foraging in groups. The body is heavily barred above and below with a dark cap, yellow cheeks, and a yellow collar. Males have a red moustache, blackish in females. The throat is black in the northern subspecies and white in the southern “Field Flicker” subspecies.
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