The rufous-faced antbird (''Myrmelastes rufifacies'') is a species of

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 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 rufous-faced antbird has a complicated taxonomic history. It was previously considered as a

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

of the spot-winged antbird (now ''M. leucostigma''), which at times had been placed in genera '' Percnostola'' and '' Schistocichla''. A 2007 study of the vocal characteristics of the then many subspecies of the spot-winged found significant differences between the taxa. Based on this evidence the brownish-headed antbird was promoted to species status and given its English name. A 2013 study finalized its move to genus ''

Myrmelastes ''Myrmelastes'' is a genus of passerine birds in the antbird family (Thamnophilidae). The eight recognised species inhabit the understorey of lowland and sub‑montane evergreen forests of the Amazon Basin and the Guiana Shield, from sea level to ...

''.Isler, M.L., Bravo, G.A. and Brumfield, R.T. (2013). Taxonomic revision of ''Myrmeciza'' (Aves: Passeriformes: Thamnophilidae) into 12 genera based on phylogenetic, morphological, behavioral, and ecological data. Zootaxa 3717(4): 469–497. The fufous-faced antbird 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 rufous-faced antbird is long and weighs . Males have medium gray upperparts with an olive-brown tinge. Their wings and tail are blackish gray with wide white tips on the 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. Their throat and underparts are medium gray with an olive-brown tinge to their sides, flanks, and crissum. Females have a gray-brown crown and upperparts. Their wings and tail are blackish brown with pale cinnamon-rufous tips on the wing coverts. Their face is rufous. Their throat and belly are pale tawny that gently becomes olive-brown on their flanks and undertail coverts. Both sexes have pinkish legs and feet.del Hoyo, J., N. Collar, and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Rufous-faced Antbird (''Myrmelastes rufifacies''), 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.rufant4.01 retrieved July 30, 2024

Distribution and habitat

The rufous-faced antbird is found in the central

Amazon Basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributary, tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries ...

south of the Amazon between the

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

and

Tocantins Tocantins () is one of the 26 states of Brazil. It is the newest state, formed in 1988 and encompassing what had formerly been the northern two-fifths of the state of Goiás. Tocantins covers and had an estimated population of 1,496,880 in 2014 ...

rivers and south into northern

Rondônia Rondônia () is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the northern subdivision of the country (central-western part). It is bordered by Acre (state), Acre in the west, Amazonas, Brazil, Amazonas in the north, Mato Grosso in the east, and Bo ...

and far northern

Mato Grosso Mato Grosso ( – ) is one of the states of Brazil, the List of Brazilian states by area, third largest by area, located in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region. The state has 1.66% of the Brazilian population and is responsible ...

states. It primarily inhabits the floor and understorey of '' terra firme''

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 occasionally also occurs in seasonally flooded forest. Within the forest it favors poorly drained areas and areas along small watercourses. In elevation it mostly occurs below though it is found locally up to about .

Behavior

Movement

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

Feeding

The rufous-faced antbird feeds primarily on insects; its diet also includes

arachnid Arachnids are arthropods in the Class (biology), class Arachnida () of the subphylum Chelicerata. Arachnida includes, among others, spiders, scorpions, ticks, mites, pseudoscorpions, opiliones, harvestmen, Solifugae, camel spiders, Amblypygi, wh ...

s. Its foraging behavior is not known but is assumed to be very similar or identical to those of its former "parent" the spot-winged antbird, which see

here Here may refer to: Music * ''Here'' (Adrian Belew album), 1994 * ''Here'' (Alicia Keys album), 2016 * ''Here'' (Cal Tjader album), 1979 * ''Here'' (Edward Sharpe album), 2012 * ''Here'' (Idina Menzel album), 2004 * ''Here'' (Merzbow album), ...

Breeding

Nothing is known about the rufous-faced antbird's breeding biology.

Vocalization

The rufous-faced antbird's song is described as most similar to that of the Roraiman antbird (''M. saturatus''), a "series of slowly starting, accelerating notes, sharply lowered in pitch at end". With one exception the species' calls apparently are the same as those of the spot-winged antbird, which include a "long, downslurred, typically frequency-modulated whistle", an "abrupt unclear note given singly or in series of 2–5", and a "short rattle".Zimmer, K., M.L. Isler, and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Spot-winged Antbird (''Myrmelastes leucostigma''), 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.spwant3.01 retrieved July 29, 2024 The exception is a variation of the downslurred whistle ("teeeeur") in which it is repeated in a series, and which is not known from others of the spot-winged complex.

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 rufous-faced 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 uncommon across its range but occurs in several protected areas. "Regions inhabited by hespecies also encompass extensive areas of intact habitat which are not formally protected, but seem unlikely to be threatened by development in the near future."

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1261841 rufous-faced antbird Birds of the Brazilian Amazon Birds of Southern Amazonia Endemic birds of Brazil rufous-faced antbird