ANTBIRDS   -   THAMNOPHILIDAE   -   PART II

Checker-throated Antwren Epinecrophylla fulviventris fulviventris Buenaventura reserve, El Oro province, Ecuador. Male. All of the so-called "stipple-throated" antwrens have recently been separated from the Myrmotherula antwrens. See here for a summary of the rationale. (S5)

Pacific Antwren Myrmotherula pacifica Finca Exito I, 20 km north of Puerto Quito, Pichincha province, Ecuador. Female. The male is pale below with gray streaks. (S5)

White-flanked Antwren Myrmotherula axillaris luctuosa Reserva Ecoligica de Guapi Assu, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. Male. This is the race endemic to the lowlands of eastern Brazil, which will eventually be split, based mainly on its completely different vocalizations. I don't yet have any other shots to compare it with though (S5)

Slaty Antwren Myrmotherula schisticolor schisticolor Buenaventura reserve, El Oro province, Ecuador. Male. Common and widespread in montane forest, both in Central and South America. (S5)

Caatinga Antwren Herpsilochmus sellowi Chapada de Araripe, Ceará state, Brazil. Male. It was only described to science in 2000. This photo was published in the first volume of Neotropical Birding. (D3)

Black-capped Antwren Herpsilochmus atricapillus São José da Serra, Minas Gerais state, Brazil. Male. It has a rather large range from eastern Brazil to Bolivia, south of the Amazon basin. (S5f)

White-fringed Antwren Formicivora grisea grisea Near the town of Baturité, Ceará state, Brazil. Male. Distinguished from the similar and sympatric Black-bellied Antwren (F. melanogaster) mainly by having a lot more white on the flanks. The supercilium is also slightly narrower. (D3)

White-fringed Antwren Formicivora grisea hondae El Paujil reserve, Santander department, Colombia. Male. Some orntithologists consider the races of far northern South America (including this one) to be a distinct species from those farther south. However the plumage differences are in the female, so not noticeable in these photos. (D3)

Ferruginous Antbird Drymophila ferruginea Vale das Taquaras, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. Male. The Drymophila antbirds are some of the neatest and prettiest members of the antbird family. There are eight of them in the world, six of them are found only in the Atlantic Forest region, and four of them are endemic to Southeast Brazil, including this one. Ferruginous Antbird is one of the most common and easy to see, often foraging right in the open and not requiring any playback to see. (S5f)

Rufous-tailed Antbird Drymophila genei Pico da Caledônia, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. Male. Endemic to SE Brazil. This species ranges at the highest elevations in the Atlantic Forest, especially in stunted forest just below treeline. (S5)

Ochre-rumped Antbird Drymophila ochropyga Vale das Taquaras, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. Male. Also endemic to SE Brazil, where it prefers dense bamboo patches in the mountains. This bird seemed to tease me. Every time he came into view, he always sat somewhere where there was just one little annoying branch in the way! This was the best I could come up with. Photoshopping it out would be tough. (S5f)

Dusky-tailed Antbird Drymophila malura Santuario de Caraça, Minas Gerais state, Brazil. Male. Unlike the other Drymophilas, it isn't really a forest bird. It prefers scrubby clearings. Perhaps for this reason, it is also a bit more widespread, getting into NE Argentina and S Paraguay. (S5)

Yellow-browed Antbird Hypocnemis hypoxantha hypoxantha Gareno Lodge, Napo province, Ecuador. Male. I almost didn't include photo since it is so poor, but it is such a cool bird that I ended up sticking it in. This species seems to prefer hilly areas in terra firme forest. (S3f)

White-shouldered Fire-eye Pyriglena leucoptera Parque Estadual Intervales, São Paulo state, Brazil. Male. Normally a very skulking, hard-to-see species. I have no idea what possessed this one to sit in the open for five minutes... (D3)		Ash-breasted Antbird Myrmoborus lugubris stictopterus Anavilhanas Archipelago, Amazonas state, Brazil. Female. One of only very few shots I have of female antbirds. This is mainly due to the fact that the males are usually the ones to respond aggressively to playback, which is usually necessary to get field photos of these shy birds. (D3)

Black-faced Antbird Myrmoborus myotherinus elegans Shiripuno Lodge, Orellana province, Ecuador. Male. (S4)

Bare-crowned Antbird Gymnocichla nudiceps sanctamartae El Paujil reserve, Santander department, Colombia. Male. "Bald Antbird" would have been a much cooler name. It is found in lowland rainforest from Belize to Colombia. (S5)

Silvered Antbird Sclateria naevia naevia Near Guaraunos, Sucre state, Venezuela. Male. An example of one of the eastern races, which are extensively streaked below. (D3)

Spot-winged Antbird Schistocichla leucostigma subplumbea Shiripuno Lodge, Orellana province, Ecuador. Male. (S4)

White-bellied Antbird Myrmeciza longipes panamensis Parque Metropolitano, Panama City, Panama. Male. (S2f)

Ferruginous-backed Antbird Myrmeciza ferruginea ferruginea c.60km north of Manaus, Amazonas state, Brazil. Male. What a bird! Certainly one of the most handsome of the antbirds, and one of my favorite photos. (D3)

Esmeraldas Antbird Myrmeciza nigricauda Milpe Bird Sanctuary, Pichincha province, Ecuador. Female. I had the camera set up wrong and drastically underexposed the bird. That's pretty much the same thing as setting the ISO level very high, so the result is a very grainy photo. This bird is a chocó endemic, found only in western Colombia and western Ecuador. (S5)

Immaculate Antbird Myrmeciza immaculata macrorhyncha End of the Milpe road, Pichincha province, Ecuador. Male. (S5f)

Gray-headed Antbird Myrmeciza griseiceps Utuana, Loja province, Ecuador. One of the rarest and most threatened of all the antbirds, inhabiting a very small area in southern Ecuador and northwestern Peru. It seems to require semi-humid forest with a dense bamboo understory, andalmost all of it's habitat has been cleared. It occurs in only a few protected areas, including the Jorupe and El Tundo reserves in Ecuador and the Tumbes Reserved Zone in Peru. (S5)

Bicolored Antbird Gymnopithys leucaspis aequatorialis Pacto-Guallabillas road, Pichincha province, Ecuador. This species is a "professional" antswarm follower. (S5f)

Spotted Antbird Hylophylax naevioides naevioides Playa de Oro, Esmeraldas province, Ecuador. Male. This species occurs from Honduras to western Ecuador. (S5f)

Spotted Antbird Hylophylax naevioides naevioides Plantation Road, Soberania NP, Panama. Female. In many of the antbirds, the female is more ornately patterned than the male, but that doesn't hold true for this one. (S2f)

Scale-backed Antbird Hylophylax poecilinotus vidua Serra dos Carajás, Pará state, Brazil. Male. He was attending a small army antswarm, which made him a lot easier to photograph. (D3)

Black-spotted Bare-eye Phlegopsis nigromaculata nigromaculata Yasuní NP, Orellana province, Ecuador. Male. Taxonomically last, but for me it's the most amazing photo of this gallery. This is normally an incredibly shy bird, hard enough to get even a glimpse of, never mind digiscope. This guy perched for several minutes, giving me time to set the scope up in just the right place to get him through a gap in the leaves. Notice the spider web on his face; he must have just flown straight through a web, which has to be a pretty unpleasant experience for a bird (and fatal for the smallest ones). (D3)

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