The slate-colored antbird (''Myrmelastes schistaceus'') is a species of
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...
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 found in
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
,
Colombia,
Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar language, Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechuan ...
, and
Peru
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal
, national_motto = "Fi ...
.
[Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, G. Del-Rio, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 4 March 2024. Species Lists of Birds for South American Countries and Territories. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCCountryLists.htm retrieved March 5, 2024]
Taxonomy and systematics
The slate-colored antbird has a complicated taxonomic history. It was
described by the English zoologist
Philip Sclater
Philip Lutley Sclater (4 November 1829 – 27 June 1913) was an English lawyer and zoologist. In zoology, he was an expert ornithologist, and identified the main zoogeographic regions of the world. He was Secretary of the Zoological Societ ...
in 1858 and given the
binomial name
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
''Hypnocmenis schistacea''. Later authors placed it successively in genera ''
Sclateria'', ''
Schistocichla'', and ''
Percnostola
''Percnostola'' is a genus of insectivorous passerine birds in the family Thamnophilidae.
The genus was erected by the German ornithologists Jean Cabanis and Ferdinand Heine in 1860. The type species is the black-headed antbird. The name of the ...
''.
[Schulenberg, T. S. and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Slate-colored Antbird (''Myrmelastes schistaceus''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.slcant3.01 retrieved July 27, 2024] Some time after its initial description it was assigned several subspecies, but a 1924 study determined that some of them were species in their own right and a 1931 study confirmed that ''schistacea'' 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 "unispec ...
.
[ A 2013 study finalized its move to genus '']Myrmelastes
''Myrmelastes'' is a genus of passerine birds in the family Thamnophilidae. Most of these species were previously placed in the genus ''Schistocichla''. The genus formerly included only three species, but several taxa previously considered subspe ...
'', and because that name is masculine, the change of its specific name to ''schistaceus''.[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.]
Description
The slate-colored antbird is long and weighs . Males are mostly dark bluish gray or slate gray. Their wings and tail are blackish gray with small white spots at the tips of 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 controvers ...
s. Females have a dark chestnut crown with thin rufous streaks. Their back and wings are olive brown with wide ochraceous buff tips on the wing coverts. Their tail is slate gray, Their face and underparts are orangish rufous or rufous. Both sexes have a gray iris and leaden to bluish gray legs and feet. Males have a black bill; females have a gray maxilla
The maxilla (plural: ''maxillae'' ) in vertebrates is the upper fixed (not fixed in Neopterygii) bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. In humans, the upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. The ...
and a black mandible
In anatomy, the mandible, lower jaw or jawbone is the largest, strongest and lowest bone in the human facial skeleton. It forms the lower jaw and holds the lower teeth in place. The mandible sits beneath the maxilla. It is the only movable bon ...
.[Schulenberg, 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 171.]
Distribution and habitat
The slate-colored antbird is found in the lowlands of the western Amazon Basin
The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its 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 of Boli ...
. It occurs in southern Colombia, far northeastern Ecuador, northeastern to east-central Peru, and western Brazil east to central Amazonas
Amazonas may refer to:
Places
* Amazon River, known as ''Amazonas'' in Spanish and Portuguese
*Amazonas (Brazilian state), Brazil
* Amazonas Department, Colombia
* Department of Amazonas, Peru
* Amazonas (Venezuelan state), Venezuela
Other uses
* ...
state. It inhabits the understorey of ''terra firme
Terra may often refer to:
* Terra (mythology), primeval Roman goddess
* An alternate name for planet Earth, as well as the Latin name for the planet
Terra may also refer to: Geography Astronomy
* Terra (satellite), a multi-national NASA scienti ...
'' forest. In elevation it reaches in Ecuador and in Colombia.[
]
Behavior
Movement
The slate-colored antbird is believed to be a year-round resident throughout its range.[
]
Feeding
The slate-colored antbird's diet has not been detailed but is known to include insects. It forages as individuals, pairs, and small family groups and mostly within about of the ground and only rarely with 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 are ...
s. They hop along the ground and among low branches, and take prey mostly by picking from leaf litter and by reaching to leaves and twigs from the ground or a low perch. They occasionally attend 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 limi ...
swarms to capture prey disturbed by the ants.[
]
Breeding
Nothing is known about the slate-colored antbird's breeding biology.[
]
Vocalization
The slate-colored antbird's song has been described as "a simple series of penetrating but semimusical notes, 'peeyr-peeyr-peeyr-peeyr-peeyr' "[ and "a slow, accelerating, rising series of clear whistles: ''heew hew-hew-hew-hew'', rarely with a buzzy terminal note"][.
]
Status
The IUCN has assessed the slate-colored antbird as being of Least Concern. It has a large range; its population size is not known and is believed to be decreasing. No immediate threats have been identified.[ It is considered uncommon in Colombia and Peru and local in Ecuador.][ "As is true of all species that occupy forested habitats, Slate-colored Antbird is vulnerable to habitat loss or degradation; this species may be particularly vulnerable, as it is suspected to avoid second growth or forests that have been subjected to disturbance, such as from logging operations."][
]
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q752015
slate-colored antbird
Birds of the Amazon rainforest
Birds of Peruvian Amazonia
slate-colored antbird
slate-colored antbird
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot