The grey-headed antbird (''Ampelornis griseiceps'') is a

near threatened species A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qu ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

in the subfamily Thamnophilinae of the 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 found in

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

and

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The American ornithologist Frank Chapman described the grey-headed antbird in 1923 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 ...

''Myrmoderus griseiceps''. It was later placed in genus '' Myrmeciza,'' but a

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

study published in 2013 found that the genus ''Myrmeciza'', as then defined, was

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage that includes organisms with mixed evolutionary origin but does not include their most recent common ancestor. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as Homoplasy, homoplasies ...

. The gray-headed antbird was moved to a newly erected genus, ''Ampelornis,'' in the resulting rearrangement to create

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

genera. The name combines the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

words ''ampelos,'' "vine," and ''ornis,'' "bird." The genus is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

Description

The grey-headed antbird is long and weighs about . Adult males have a gray head, neck, and mantle. The rest of their upperparts are olive-brown with a white patch between their

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 ...

. Their flight feathers are dark brownish gray with pale brown edges; their wing

covert Secrecy is the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups who do not have the "need to know", perhaps while sharing it with other individuals. That which is kept hidden is known as the secret. Secrecy is often controver ...

s are black with wide white tips. Their tail is dark brownish gray with white tips on the feathers. The center of their lower throat and breast is black, the rest of their breast and belly are gray, and their flanks, vent area, and undertail coverts are olive-brown. Adult females have a paler gray head than males. Their throat and breast are streaked gray or olive-gray on white, and their belly is whiter than the male's. Their back and the rest of their underparts are like the male's. Subadult males resemble adult females.Zimmer, K. and M.L. Isler (2020). Gray-headed Antbird (''Ampelornis griseiceps''), 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.gyhant1.01 retrieved August 5, 2024Schulenberg, T.S., D.F. Stotz, D.F. Lane, J.P. O’Neill, and T.A. Parker III. 2010. ''Birds of Peru''. Revised and updated edition. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey. Plate 169.

Distribution and habitat

The grey-headed antbird is found in far southwestern Ecuador's El Oro and Loja provinces, into northwestern Peru, and in the departments of Lambayeque and

Cajamarca Cajamarca (), also known by the Quechua name, ''Kashamarka'', is the capital and largest city of the Cajamarca Region as well as an important cultural and commercial center in the northern Andes. It is located in the northern highlands of Per ...

. It inhabits the understorey of montane

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 ...

and the

ecotone An ecotone is a transitional area between two plant communities, where these meet and integrate. Examples include areas between grassland and forest, estuaries and lagoon, freshwater and sea water etc. An ecotone may be narrow or wide, and it ma ...

between it and

deciduous forest In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, after flo ...

. It is often associated with bamboo, but not confined to it. In elevation, it ranges between in Ecuador and in Peru.

Behavior

Movement

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

Feeding

The gray-headed antbird feeds primarily on insects and probably includes other

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 in its diet. Individuals, pairs, and family groups forage in dense vegetation, usually between above the ground. It hops, makes short flutter-flights between perches, and takes prey by gleaning from leaves, stems, and vines. It sometimes 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 ...

Breeding

The gray-headed antbird's breeding season appears from January to May, but nothing else is known about its breeding biology.

Vocalization

The grey-headed antbird's song is "a short, rapid, descending series of churred notes: ''CHEER'R'r'r'r'r'ew''" and its call "a harsh, whining ''rheer-rhurr''".

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 ...

originally in 1988 assessed the grey-headed antbird as Threatened, then as Endangered in 1994, since 2000 as Vulnerable, and since 2024 as Near Threatened. It has a somewhat limited range, and its estimated population of between 2500 and 10,000 mature individuals is believed to be decreasing. "Significant habitat loss is ongoing, at least in unprotected areas, and will soon remove almost all extant lowland forest unless effective action is taken urgently." It is considered rare to uncommon throughout its range. It is known from one protected area in each country. "Further investigation into its ecology would help to clarify its true micro-habitat needs, particularly concerning the relative importance of bamboo; this could influence decisions on habitat preservation and management."

References

External links

BirdLife Species Factsheet
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1262095 grey-headed antbird Birds of the Ecuadorian Andes Birds of the Peruvian Andes grey-headed antbird Taxonomy articles created by Polbot