Rufous-winged Antshrike
Thamnophilus torquatus
Medium-sized antshrike. Males have black-and-white barring on the breast and tail and a black crown that fades to gray on the back. Females have pale cinnamon underparts, a rusty crown and tail, and gray cheeks. Both males and females have rusty wings. Inhabits the understory of savanna woodlands, thickets, and scrub. The song is loud with a series of accelerating notes.
Identification
The rufous-winged antshrike is about 14 cm (5.5 in) long and weighs 18 to 20 g (0.63 to 0.71 oz). Members of genus Thamnophilus are largish members of the antbird family; all have stout bills with a hook like those of true shrikes. This species exhibits significant sexual dimorphism. Adult males have a black crown and a gray face, neck, and upperparts. Their wings and wing coverts are cinnamon-rufous. Their tail is black with white bars on the outer feathers. Their throat and underparts are whitish with black bars on the breast. Adult females have a rufous crown and a mottled whitish and gray face. Their upperparts are pale cinnamon-rufous. Their wings are like the male's. Their tail is rufous. Their underparts are buffy that is darker on the breast, flanks, and crissum; sometimes the breast has faint dusky bars.
Taxonomy
The rufous-winged antshrike was described by the English naturalist William Swainson in 1825 and given its current binomial name Thamnophilus torquatus. It and the rufous-capped antshrike (T. ruficapillus) are sister species. The South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society is considering a proposal to lump them as a single species.<p>The rufous-winged antshrike is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Thamnophilus torquatus
- Authority
- Swainson, 1825
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Thamnophilidae
- Genus
- Thamnophilus
Range and habitat
The rufous-winged antshrike is found in Brazil from southern Pará east to Pernambuco and south to Rio de Janeiro state in the east. In the west its range continues southwest through Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul into eastern Bolivia's Santa Cruz Department and eastern Parguay's Canindeyú Department. It inhabits the understorey of cerrado and nearby semi-deciduous woodlands. It also inhabits brushy gallery forest and second growth such as overgrown pastures and plantations. In elevation it mostly occurs below 1,000 m (3,300 ft) but ranges as high as 1,750 m (5,700 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The rufous-winged antshrike is presumed to be a year-round resident throughout its range.<p>The rufous-winged antshrike's diet has not been detailed but is mostly insects and other arthropods. It usually forages singly and in pairs, mostly in the understorey within 2 m (7 ft) of the ground though sometimes up to the canopy. It hops through vegetation, gleaning prey from leaves, stems, vines, and branches by reaching and sometimes making short upward sallies from a perch. It has been observed dropping to the ground to pick prey from the surface of leaf litter.It sometimes joins mixed-species feeding flocks.<p>Rufous-winged antshrike nests have been found between April and June. Both sexes build the nest, a cup woven mostly of grass, rootlets, and fungal fibers with sometimes moss, bark, and human fibers such as twine included. Nests are suspended in a branch fork, usually between 0.7 and 1.5 m (2 and 5 ft) above the ground. The clutch size is usually two eggs though there is one record of three. Both parents incubate the clutch and provision nestlings. The incubation period is about 15 days and fledging occurs about 10 days after hatch.<p>The rufous-winged antshrike's song is " a moderately long...accelerating series of nasal notes, first one long and drawn out, followed by increasingly shorter notes, ending in longer downslurred note". Its calls include a "querulous upslurred whistle", a "nasal note that becomes harsh", and a "growl".
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Yellow-mantled Weaver
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Cinnamon Bracken-Warbler
Bradypterus cinnamomeus
Mid-sized warbler with a long tail. Rufous overall, with a white throat and pale eye-line. Found in various open montane habitats, including bracken, heath, dense scrub, and forest edge. Skulks in the understory, though sometimes emerges into the open. The song starts with one or a couple of high notes, followed by a low, loose trill. The call is a peevish “tree-aat.” Similar to Evergreen-forest Warbler, but in most of the range distinguished by much more rufous overall coloration. Around the Albertine Rift, distinguished from the rufous local subspecies of Evergreen-forest Warbler by the well-defined white throat.
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