Gray Antbird
Cercomacra cinerascens
Slender, long-tailed antbird of rainforest midstory. One of the most common antbirds in Amazonian rainforest, and can be found around forest edges and dense secondary growth as well as in more mature rainforest. Prefers vine tangles in the subcanopy, and can be very hard to see as they forage in dense, high vegetation. Males are gray with white wing bars; females are grayish brown with white wing bars. Both sexes have bold white spots on the underside of the tail. Its song is one of the most frequently heard sounds in Amazonia, a slow bouncing “erk, CHAT, erk, CHAT, …”
Identification
Slender, long-tailed antbird of rainforest midstory. One of the most common antbirds in Amazonian rainforest, and can be found around forest edges and dense secondary growth as well as in more mature rainforest. Prefers vine tangles in the subcanopy, and can be very hard to see as they forage in dense, high vegetation. Males are gray with white wing bars; females are grayish brown with white wing bars. Both sexes have bold white spots on the underside of the tail. Its song is one of the most frequently heard sounds in Amazonia, a slow bouncing “erk, CHAT, erk, CHAT, …”
Taxonomy
The grey antbird was described by the English zoologist Philip Sclater in 1857 from a specimen obtained near the Rio Napo in Ecuador. He coined the binomial name Formicivora cinerascens. The specific epithet is Late Latin meaning "ashen". This antbird is now placed in the genus Cercomacra that was introduced by Sclater in 1858.<p>Four subspecies are recognised:
- Scientific name
- Cercomacra cinerascens
- Authority
- (Sclater, PL, 1857)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Thamnophilidae
- Genus
- Cercomacra
Range and habitat
- 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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