Batara géant

Identification

The giant antshrike is the largest antbird, 27 to 35 cm (11 to 14 in) long and weighing 100 to 155 g (3.5 to 5.5 oz). The species exhibits significant sexual dimorphism, though both sexes have a crest, a very long and wide tail, and a long gray bill with a hook at the end like true shrikes. Adult males of the nominate subspecies have a black forehead, crown, and crest. Their back, wings, and tail are barred with black and white. Their face, nape, throat, and underparts are neutral gray. Adult females have a rufous crest with some black feather tips. Their back, wings, and tail are barred with cinnamon-buff and dark brown. Their face, nape, throat, and underparts are mostly olive that becomes yellowish by their crissum. Subspecies B. c. argentina is smaller than the nominate. Compared to it, males have fewer bars on their wings and tail; females have less black on their crest, slightly paler upperparts, and warmer underparts. B. c. excubitor is paler overall than argentina, and the difference might be clinal.

Taxonomie

The giant antshrike was described by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1819 and given the binomial name Thamnphilus cinerea (misspelled as Tamnphilus). The current genus Batara was introduced by the French naturalist René Lesson in 1831. It is the only member of genus Batara and has three subspecies, the nominate B. c. cinerea (Vieillot, 1819), B. c. excubitor (Bond, J & Meyer de Schauensee, 1940), and B. c. argentina (Shipton, 1918).

Nom scientifique

Batara cinerea

Autorité

(Vieillot, 1819)

Ordre

Passériformes

Famille

Thamnophilidés

Genre

Batara

Répartition et habitat

The giant antshrike has a disjunct distribution. The nominate subspecies is separate from the others. It is found from southern Espírito Santo and southwestern São Paulo states in southeastern Brazil south to central Rio Grande do Sul and into northeastern Argentina's Misiones Province. Subspecies B. c. excubitor is found only in western Santa Cruz Department in central Bolivia. B. c. argentina is found in southern Bolivia's Santa Cruz, Chuquisaca and Tarija departments, in northwestern Argentina's Jujuy, Salta, and Tucumán provinces, and in western Paraguay's Boquerón and Presidente Hayes departments.<p>The giant antshrike inhabits landscapes that vary geographically, though in all it favors the understorey to mid-storey. In the Atlantic Forest it occurs from humid evergreen forest near sea level up to elfin forest at about 2,200 m (7,200 ft). It almost always is found in or near large stands of bamboo. To the west in the Andes it occurs in montane forest as high as 2,600 m (8,500 ft), mostly in dense vegetation along ravines and streams. At lower elevations in Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay it occurs in stunted woodlands of the semi-arid Gran Chaco where it favors dense thorny thickets.

Migration

Espèce sédentaire

Comportement

Mode de migration: Espèce sédentaire.

Conservation

Tendance de la population: en déclin.

Tendance de la population

en déclin