The ferruginous antbird (''Drymophila ferruginea'') is an insectivorous bird in subfamily Thamnophilinae of family

Thamnophilidae The antbirds are a large passerine bird family, Thamnophilidae, found across subtropical and tropical Central and South America, from Mexico to Argentina. There are more than 230 species, known variously as antshrikes, antwrens, antvireos, fire ...

, the "typical antbirds". It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The ferruginous antbird was described by the Dutch zoologist

Coenraad Jacob Temminck Coenraad Jacob Temminck (; 31 March 1778 – 30 January 1858) was a Dutch people, Dutch patrician, Zoology, zoologist and museum director. Biography Coenraad Jacob Temminck was born on 31 March 1778 in Amsterdam in the Dutch Republic. Fro ...

in 1822 and given the

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...

''Myiothera ferruginea''. It is now placed in genus ''

Drymophila __NOTOC__ ''Drymophila'' is a bird genus in the antbird family (Thamnophilidae). It is a relative of the typical antwrens. The genus ''Drymophila'' was introduced by the English naturalist William Swainson in 1824. The Drymophila antbird is a s ...

'' which was introduced by the English naturalist

William Swainson William Swainson Fellow of the Linnean Society, FLS, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (8 October 1789 – 6 December 1855), was an English ornithologist, Malacology, malacologist, Conchology, conchologist, entomologist and artist. Life Swains ...

in 1824. The

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

is from the Latin ''ferrugineus'', "rusty-colored". The ferruginous antbird has no subspecies, but what is now Bertoni's antbird (''Drymophila rubricollis'') was previously treated as a subspecies of it.Willis, E.O. (1988). ''Drymophila rubricolis'' (Bertoni 1901) is a valid species (Aves, Formicariidae). Rev. Bras. Biol.. 48: 431-438.

Description

The ferruginous antbird is long and weighs . Adult males have a black crown, a white

supercilium The supercilium is a plumage feature found on the heads of some bird species. It is a stripe which runs from the base of the bird's beak above its eye, finishing somewhere towards the rear of the bird's head.Dunn and Alderfer (2006), p. 10 Also k ...

, a wide black band through the eye, and white cheeks with black speckles. Their upperparts are mostly reddish yellow-brown with a (usually hidden) white patch between the

scapulars The scapula (: scapulae or scapulas), also known as the shoulder blade, is the bone that connects the humerus (upper arm bone) with the clavicle (collar bone). Like their connected bones, the scapulae are paired, with each scapula on either side ...

and a rufous rump. Their wings are brownish black with buffish edges on the flight feathers and wide white tips on the

coverts A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts The ear coverts are small feathers behind t ...

. Their tail is black with wide white tips on the feathers. Their chin is white with black speckles; their throat and underparts are rufous. Females are similar to males but are paler, with olive streaks on the crown, rufous tips on the wing coverts, and no white patch between the scapulars. Subadult males resemble adult females with the interscapular patch, wide buff edges on the crown feathers, a buff-tinged supercilium, and paler underparts.Zimmer, K. and M.L. Isler (2020). Ferruginous Antbird (''Drymophila ferruginea''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.ferant1.01 retrieved June 15, 2024

Distribution and habitat

The ferruginous antbird is found in southeastern Brazil in an area roughly defined by southeastern

Bahia Bahia () is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Mina ...

, northeastern Santa Catarina, east-central

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...

, and western

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

states. It inhabits stands of bamboo, mostly along the edges of

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

evergreen forest An evergreen forest is a forest made up of evergreen trees. They occur across a wide range of climatic zones, and include trees such as conifers and holly in cold climates, eucalyptus, live oak, acacias, magnolia, and banksia in more temperate zo ...

. It also inhabits bamboo in

secondary woodland A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has regenerated through largely natural processes after human-caused disturbances, such as timber harvest or agriculture clearing, or equivalently disruptive natura ...

, in openings made by fallen trees, and in pure stand-alone patches. It mostly occurs from sea level to but is occasionally found as high as .

Behavior

Movement

The ferruginous antbird is believed to be a year-round resident throughout its range.

Feeding

The ferruginous antbird feeds mostly on a wide variety of

arthropod Arthropods ( ) are invertebrates in the phylum Arthropoda. They possess an arthropod exoskeleton, exoskeleton with a cuticle made of chitin, often Mineralization (biology), mineralised with calcium carbonate, a body with differentiated (Metam ...

s. It typically forages individually, in pairs, and in family groups, usually within about of the ground. It often joins

mixed-species feeding flock A mixed-species feeding flock, also termed a mixed-species foraging flock, mixed hunting party or informally bird wave, is a flock of usually insectivorous birds of different species that join each other and move together while foraging. These ar ...

s but is not known to follow

army ant The name army ant (or legionary ant or ''marabunta'') is applied to over 200 ant species in different lineages. Because of their aggressive predatory foraging groups, known as "raids", a huge number of ants forage simultaneously over a limited ...

s. It typically forages at the edges of bamboo patches where the bamboo is tangled with the forest understorey, though also within patches of younger bamboo. It gleans prey from live leaves and stems by reaching, lunging, or making short flights from a perch. It also probes and tears at clusters of dead leaves.

Breeding

The ferruginous antbird breeds between October and February. The one known nest was a basket made from strands of moss hanging from a fork in a fern leaf only above the ground. The eggs in it were white with reddish-brown speckles, blotches, and lines. The typical clutch size, incubation period, time to fledging, and details of parental care are not known.

Vocalization

The ferruginous antbird's song is a "very high, loud, sharp 'tit-tuweéw' (1 x or 3 x without interval)". Its calls include a "rich 'chewp' and short, 'chirring' rattle".

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

has assessed the ferruginous antbird as being of Least Concern. It has a large range; its population size is not known and is believed to be stable. No immediate threats have been identified. It is considered common across its range and occurs in several large protected areas. "Its ability to utilize second-growth habitats may render it less vulnerable to disturbance than are most other antbirds."

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q113125 ferruginous antbird Birds of the Atlantic Forest Endemic birds of Brazil ferruginous antbird Taxonomy articles created by Polbot