The
Antbirds of family
Thamnophilidae occur in tropical and subtropical Central and South America. There are more than 200 species, known variously as
antwrens,
antbirds and
antshrikes (here ordered by size with antwrens the smallest and antshrikes the largest). Other miscellaneous names for some of the species in the
Thamnophilidae family are:
antvireos, bare-eyes, bushbird, fire-eyes.
Collective, members of the
Thamnophilidae family are known as antbirds. They not closely related to the wrens, vireos or shrikes.
Most species live in forests and most feed in the understory and midstory of the forest, although a few feed in the canopy and a few on the ground. They feed on ants and other insects. They use a number of techniques to obtain prey. The majority of antbirds are arboreal, with most of those feeding in the understory, many in the middle story and some in the canopy. A few species feed in the leaf litter; The antbirds that forage arboreally show a number of techniques and specialisations. Some species perch-glean, perching on a branch watching for prey and snatching it by reaching forward, where others sally from a perch and snatch prey on the wing.
Thamnophilidae are related to antpittas of family
Grallariidae and the antthrushes of family
Formicariidae.
Genus Akletos - 1 species
Antbird,_Goeldi's Akletos goeldii Found: northern Bolivia, western Brazil, southeast Peru
Image by: 1)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Joe_Tobias 2)
Hector_Bottai 3)
Claudio_Timm
1, 2) Female 3) Male
Genus Ammonastes - 1 species
Antbird,_Gray-bellied Ammonastes pelzelni Found: Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela
Image by: 1, 2)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Pablo Florez, Ian_Davies 3)
Nick Athanas - Columbia
1) Female 2, 3) Male
Genus Aprositornis - 1 species
Antbird,_Yapacana Aprositornis disjuncta Found: isolated range at borders of Brazil, Columbia, Venezuela
Image by: 1)
Marcelo_Camacho 2)
Thiago_Laranjeiras 1, 2)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Marcelo Camacho, Thiago Laranjeiras
1, 2) Male
Genus Cercomacra
Antbird,_Bananal Cercomacra ferdinandi Found: wetlands of the central Araguaia river in Brazil
Image by: 1)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Ciro_Albano 2)
Marco_Cruz
1) Female 2) Male
Antbird,_Gray Cercomacra cinerascens Found: South America
Image by: 1)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Adrian_Eisen_Rupp 2)
Claudio_Timm - Brazil
1) Female ) Male
Antbird,_Jet Cercomacra nigricans Found: northern South America
Image by: 1, 2)
Nick Athanas - Ecuador 3)
Barloventomagico - Venezuela
1) Female 2, 3) Male
Antbird,_Manu Cercomacra manu Found: Bolivia, Brazil, Peru
Image by: 1)
hbw.com
1) Male
Antbird,_Mato_Grosso Cercomacra melanaria Found: Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay
Image by: 1, 3)
Nick Athanas - Brazil
2, 4) Hector Bottai - Brazil
1, 2) Female 3, 4) Male
Antbird,_Rio_Branco Cercomacra carbonaria Found: northern Brazil along Rio Branco; southwest Guyana
Image by: 1, 2)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Marcelo_Camacho
1) Female 2) Male
Antbird, Rio de Janerio Cercomacra brasiliana Found: Brazilian Atlantic Forest (central Bahia south to Rio de Janeiro)
Image by: 1, 2)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Ciro_Albano
1) Female 2) Male
Genus Cercomacroides also Cercomacra
Antbird,_Black Cercomacroides serva Found: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru
Image by: 1)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Peter_Hawrylyshyn 2)
Nick Athanas - Ecuador
1) Female 2) Male
Antbird,_Blackish Cercomacroides nigrescens Found: Soutn America
Image by: 1, 2)
Nick Athanas - Ecuador
1) Female 2) Male
Antbird,_Dusky Cercomacroides tyrannina Found: southeast Mexico to much of northern South America
Image by: 1)
Michael_Woodruff - Ecuador 2)
Nick Athanas - Panama
1) Female 2) Male
Antbird,_Parker's Cercomacroides parkeri Found: Columbia
Image by:
1, 3) Andres_Cuervo 2)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Ian_Davies Columbia
1) Juvenile male 2) Female 3) Male
Antbird,_Riparian Cercomacroides fuscicauda Found: s. Colombia, e. Ecuador, e. Peru, n. Bolivia and sw Amazonian Brazil.
Image by:
1, 2) Joe_Tobias - Peru
Antbird,_Willis's Cercomacroides laeta Found: Brazil
Image by: 1)
Hector_Bottai
Genus Dichrozona - 1 species
Antbird,_Banded Dichrozona cincta Found: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela
Image by: 1)
George_Cruz
Genus Drymophila
Antbird,_Bertoni'i Drymophila rubricollis Found: northeast Argentina, southeast Brazil, eastern Paraguay
Image by: 1)
Hector_Bottai 2)
Nick Athanas 3)
Claudio Timm
1) Female 2, 3) Male
Antbird, Dusky-tailed Drymophila malura Found: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay
Image by: 1)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Tom_Johnson 2)
Dario Sanches - Brazil 3)
Nick Athanas - Brazil
1) Female 2, 3) Male
Antbird,_East_Andean also
Long-tailed Antbird Drymophila caudata Found: Columbia
Image by: 1) Joseph_Wolf 2)
Eduardo_Carrion_Letort
Antbird,_Ferruginous Drymophila ferruginea Found: Brazil
Image by:
1, 2)
Dario Sanches - Serra da Cantareira State Park, São Paulo, Brazil 3)
Nick Athanas - Brazil
Antbird,_Ochre-rumped Drymophila ochropyga Found: southeast Brazil
Image by: 1) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Sergio_Gregorio_da_Silva 2)
Nick Athanas 3)
Carlos_Henrique_de_Almeida
1) Female 2, 3) Male
Antbird,_Rufous-tailed Drymophila genei Found: southeast Atlantic forest of Brazil
Image by: 1)
_Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Luana_Bianquini 2)
Nick Athanas - Brazil 3)
Carlos_Henrique_de_Almeida - Brazil
1) Female 2, 3) Male
Antbird,_Santa_Marta Drymophila hellmayri Found: Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Colombia
Image by: 1)
Brendan_Ryan 2)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Adam_Timpf
Antbird,_Scaled Drymophila squamata Found: eastern Brazil
Image by: 1)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Giselle_Mangini 2)
Nick Athanas 3)
Hector_Bottai
Antbird,_Streak-headed Drymophila striaticeps Found: Bolivia to Venezuela
Image by: 1, 3)
Nick Athanas 2)
Andres_Cuervo
1) Female 2, 3) Male
Antbird,_Striated Drymophila devillei Found: South America
Image by: 1)
Tom_Ambrose
Genus Gymnocichla - 1 species
Antbird,_Bare-crowned Gymnocichla nudiceps Found: from Belize in Central America to Columbia of South America
Image by: 1
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Barbara_Carlson 2)
Nick Athanas - Columbia
1) Female 2) Male
Genus Gymnopithys
Antbird, Bicolored Gymnopithys bicolor Found: Central America, northeast South America
Image by:
1, 2, 3, 4) Dick Daniels -
Soberania National Park, Panama
Antbird,_Lunulated Gymnopithys lunulatus Found: Ecuator, Peru
Image by: 1, 2)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Oscar_Johnson in Peru, Luke Seitz in Ecuador
1) Female 2) Male
Antbird,_Rufous-throated Gymnopithys rufigula Found: Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela.
Image by: 1)
Simon_Speich 2)
Dave_Curtis - Guyana 3)
Joao_Quental Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Joao_Quental
Antbird,_White-cheeked Gymnopithys leucaspis Found: Brazil, Columbia, Peru
Image by: 1)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Anselmo d'Affonseca in Brazil
Genus Hafferia
Antbird,_Blue-lored Hafferia immaculata Found: Nicaragua, Panama, Columbia, Ecuador, Venezuela
Image by:
1, 3) David_Cook - Ecuador 2)
Hans_Zwitzer - Costa Rica 4)
Lip_kee - Ecuador
Antbird,_Sooty Hafferia fortis Found: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
Image by: 1)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Tomaz_Melo 2)
Nick Athanas - Ecuador
1) Female 2) Male
Antbird,_Zeledon's Hafferia zeledoni Found: Nicarargua, Panama, Columbia, Ecuador
Image by: 1, 3)
Nick Athanas - Ecuador
2,
4) Gary_Clark - Ecuador
1, 2) Female 3, 4) Male
Genus Hypocnemis
The warbling-antbirds.
Antbird,_Guianan_Warbling- Hypocnemis cantator Found: northern South America
Image by:
1, 2) Feroze_Omardeen - Guyana
Antbird,_Imeri_Warbling- Hypocnemis flavescens Found: northwest Brazil, southeast Columbia, southern Venezuela
Image by: 1)
Nick Athanas - Columbia 2)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Joao_Quental
Antbird,_Manicore_Warbling- Hypocnemis rondoni Found: Brazil
Image by: 1)
Fabio_Schunck
Antbird,_Peruvean_Warbling- Hypocnemis peruviana Found: Bolivia, Brazil, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru
Image by: 1)
Nick Athanas - Ecuador 2)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Roger_Ahlman in Ecuador
1) Female
Antbird,_Rondonia_Warbling- Hypocnemis ochrogyna Found: northeast Bolivia, Rondônia (state of Brazil)
Image by: 1, 2)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Cal_Martins, Bruno_Renno
1) Female 2) Male
Antbird,_Spix's_Warbling- Hypocnemis striata Found: southeast Amazon of Brazil
Image by: 1, 2)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Valdir_Hobus, Bruno_Renno 3)
Hector_Bottai
1) Female 2, 3) Male
Antbird,_Yellow-breasted_Warbling- Hypocnemis subflava Found: Bolivia, Brazil, Peru
Image by: 1, 2)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Emerson_Kaseker
1) Female 2) Male
Genus Hypocnemoides
These two species are found in swampy areas of northern South America. They are fairly small birds, with a short tail and longish bill. Their plumage is gray with areas of black and white. They forage for food near water in the understory or on the ground.
Antbird,_Black-chinned Hypocnemoides melanopogon Found: northern South America
Image by:
1, 2) Dave_Curtis - Guyana
1) Female 2) Male
Antbird,_Band-tailed Hypocnemoides maculicauda Found:
Image by: 1)
Hector_Bottai 2)
Claudio_Timm
Genus Hylophylax
Antbird,_Dot-backed Hylophylax punctulatus Found: northern South America
Image by:
1, 2) Nick Athanas - Ecuador 3)
Hector_Bottai - Brazil
1) Female 2, 3) Male
Antbird,_Spot-backed Hylophylax naevius Found: northern South America
Image by: 1)
Philip_Stouffer -
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Philip_Stouffer in Brazil 2)
Nick Athanas - Columbia 3)
José Loiza - Ecuador
2, 3) Male
Antbird,_Spotted Hylophylax naevioides Found: southern Central America, northwestern South America
Image by:
1, 3) Dick Daniels -
Soberania National Park, Panama 2, 4)
Nick Athanas - Ecuador
1,2 ) Female 3, 4) Male
Genus Myrmeciza
Antbird,_Chestnut-backed Myrmeciza exsul also
Poliocrania exsul Found: from eastern Nicaragua to western Ecuador
Image by: 1)
Sergey_Pisarevskiy - Costa Rica 2, 3)
Nick Athanas - Ecuador
Antbird,_Gray-headed Myrmeciza griseiceps also Ampelornis griseiceps also
Found: Ecuador, Peru
Image by: 1)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Daniel_Lane 2, 3)
Nick Athanas - Ecuador
1) Female 2, 3) Male
Antbird,_White-bellied Myrmeciza longipes Found: Panama, northern South America
Image by: 1)
Alejandro_Tamayo 2)
Nick Athanas - Panama 3)
Barloventomagico - Venezuela
1) Female 2, 3) Male
Antbird,_White-shouldered Myrmeciza melanoceps Akletos melanoceps Found: Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
Image by: 1)
Nick Athanas - Ecuador 2)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Roger_Ahlman
1) Female 2) Male
Genus Myrmelastes
Antbird,_Caura Myrmelastes caurensis Found: southern Venezuela, adjacent Brazil
Image by: 1)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Octavio_Campos_Salles 2)
David_Ascanio
1) Female 2) Male
Antbird,_Humaita Myrmelastes humaythae Found: southwest Amazon in Brazil and Bolivia
Image by:
1, 2) Hector_Bottai - Brazil
Antbird,_Plumbeous Myrmelastes hyperythrus Found: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
Image by: 1)
Marcel_Holyoak - Peru 2)
Hector_Bottai - Brazil 3)
Nick Athanas - Peru
Antbird,_Roriaman Myrmelastes saturatus Found: southeast Venezuela ( around Mount Roraima), west-central Guyana
Image by: 1)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Daniel_Hinckley in Venezuela
Antbird,_Rufous-faced Myrmelastes rufifacies Found: South America
Image by: 1)
Ricardo_Gentil 2)
Bruno_Renno Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Adrian_Eisen_Rupp. Bruno Rennó
Antbird,_Slate-colored Myrmelastes schistaceus Found: western Brazil, southern Columbia, northeast Peru
Image by: 1)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Roger_Ahlman
1) Male
Antbird,_Spot-winged Myrmelastes leucostigma Found: Amazon region of South America
Image by: 1)
Nick Athanas - Ecuador 2)
Jose Loiza - Ecuador 3)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Daniel_Hinckley
Genus Myrmoborus
Antbird,_Ash-breasted Myrmoborus lugubris Found: Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru (near Amazon River)
Image by: 1)
Nick Athanas - Brazil 2)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online Roger_Ahlman
1, 2) Female 3) Male
Antbird,_Black-faced Myrmoborus myotherinus Found: middle South America
Image by: 1)
Jose_Loiza - Ecuador 2)
Joao_Quental - Brazil 3)
Marcel Holyoak - Peru
1) Female 2, 3) Male
Antbird,_White-browed Myrmoborus leucophrys Found: northern South America
Image by: 1, 2)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Joaquín_Ugarte, Bradley Hacker 3)
Nick Athanas - Ecuador
1) Female 2, 3) Male
Antbird,_Black-tailed Myrmoborus melanurus Found: Peru
Image by:
1, 2) Marcel_Holyoak - Peru
1) Female 2) Male
Genus Myrmochanes - 1 species
Antbird,_Black-and-white Myrmochanes hemileucus Found: western Brazil, eastern Ecuador and Peru, northern Bolivia
Image by: 1, 2)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Roger_Ahlman
1) Female 2) Male
Genus Myrmoderus
Antbird,_Ferruginous-backed Myrmoderus ferrugineus Found: Guyanas and the northern Amazon Basin
Image by:
1, 2) Hector_Bottai - Brazil 3)
Nick Athanas - Brazil
1) Female 2, 3) Male
Antbird,_Scalloped Myrmoderus ruficauda Found: near east coast Brazil
Image by:
1, 2) Bossilima 1, 2)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Bossilima
1) Female 2) Male
Antbird,_Squamate Myrmoderus squamosus Found: Brazil
Image by: 1)
Claudio_Timm 2)
Nick Athanas - Brazil 3)
Francesco_Veronesi
1) Female 2, 3) Male
Antbird,_White-bibbed Myrmoderus loricatus Found: Brazil
Image by: 1)
Nick Athanas - Brazil
Claudio_Timm
1, 2) Male
Genus Myrmophylax - 1 species
Antbird,_Black-throated Myrmophylax atrothorax Found: central South America
Image by: 1)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Kurazo_Okada 2)
Nick Athanas - Ecuador 3)
Barloventomagico - Venezuela
1) Female 2, 3) Male
Genus Myrmornis - 1 species
Antbird,_Wing-banded Myrmornis torquata Found: Nicaragua, Panama, Brazil, Columbia, Ecuador, and more
Image by: 1)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Maria_Ogrzewalska in Brazil 2)
Isaac_Pizarro - Panama
1) Female 2) Male
Genus Myrmorchilus - 1 species
Antbird,_Striped-back Myrmorchilus strigilatus Found: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay
Image by: 1)
Nick Athanas - Brazil 2)
Joao_Quental 3)
Hector_Bottai - Brazil
1) Female 2, 3) Male
Genus Percnostola
Antbird,_Allpahuayo Percnostola arenarum Found: northern Peru
Image by: 1, 2)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Christophe_Gouraud
1) Female 2) Male
Antbird,_White-lined Percnostola lophotes Found: northern Bolivia, southwest Brazil, southeast Peru
Image by: 1)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Robin Oxley
Hector_Bottai - Brazil
1) Female 2) Male
Antbird,_Black-headed Percnostola rufifrons Found: Amazon region of South America
Image by: 1)
Nick Athanas - Columbia 2, 3)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Luiz_Matos, Kester Clarke 4)
Hector Bottai
1, 2) Female 3, 4) Male
Genus Pithys
Antbird,_White-masked Pithys castaneus Found: Peru
Image by: 1)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Susana_Cubas_Poclin
Antbird,_White-plumed Pithys albifrons Found: Amazon region of South America
Image by: 1)
Nick Athanas - Ecuador
Genus Phaenostictus - 1 species
Antbird, Ocellated Phaenostictus mcleannani Found: Central America, South America
Image by:
1, 2, 3) Dick Daniels -
Soberania National Park, Panama 4, 5, 6)
Nick Athanas - Panama
Genus Rhegmatorhina
Antbird,_Bare-eyed Rhegmatorhina gymnops Found: Brazil
Image by: 1)
Nick Athanas - Brazil
1) Male
Antbird,_Chestnut-crested Rhegmatorhina cristata Found: southeast Columbia, northwest Brazil
Image by: 1)
Nick Athanas - Colubmia
Antbird,_Hairy-crested Rhegmatorhina melanosticta Found: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
Image by: 1)
Anselmo_d’Affonseca Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Anselmo d'Affonseca 2)
Francisco_Enríquez
1) Female 2) Male
Antbird,_Harlequin Rhegmatorhina berlepschi Found: Brazil
Image by: 1)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Bruno_Renno
1) Male
Antbird,_White-breasted Rhegmatorhina hoffmannsi Found: Brazil
Image by: 1)
Dirceu_Martins
Genus Rhopornis - 1 species
Antbird,_Slender Rhopornis ardesiacus Found: Bahia and Minas Gerais in Brazil
Image by: 1)
Arthur_Grosset 2)
Joao_Quental 3)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Joao_de_Souza
1) Female 2, 3) Male
Genus Sciaphylax
Antbird,_Chestnut-tailed also
Southern Chestnut-tailed Antbird Sciaphylax hemimelaena Found: southern Colombia, eastern Ecuador, eastern Peru, northern Bolivia
Image by: 1, 2)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Joaquín_Ugarte, Glenn Bartley
1) Female 2) Male
Antbird,_Zimmer's also
Northern Chestnut-tailed Antbird Sciaphylax castanea Found: eastern Euador, northeast Peru
Image by: 1)
Cristian Alfonso Gallego Carmona - Peru 2)
Marcell_Claassen
Genus Sclateria - 1 species
Antbird,_Silvered Sclateria naevia Found: South America
Image by: 1)
Rwheimle 2)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - graichen_and_recer 3)
Nick Athanas - Venezuela 4)
Claudio_Timm - Brazil
2) Female 3, 4) Male
Genus Sipia
Antbird,_Dull-mantled Sipia laemosticta Found: Costa Rica to northwest Venezuela
Image by: 1)
Francesco_Veronesi - Costa Rica 2)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Andrew_Spencer
Antbird,_Esmeraldas Sipia nigricauda Found: Pacific slope of northwestern South America
Image by: 1)
Arley_Vargas 2)
Nick Athanas - Ecuador
2) Male
Antbird,_Magdalena Sipia palliata Found: Columbia, Venezuela
Image by: 1)
Nick Athanas - Columbia
1) Male
Antbird,_Stub-tailed Sipia berlepschi Found: Columbia, Ecuador
Image by: 1, 3)
Nick Athanas - Ecuador 2, 4)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Alonso_Quevedo_Gil, Roger Ahlman
1, 2) Female 3, 4) Male
Genus Terenura
Antbird,_Orange-bellied Terenura sicki Found: Brazil
Image by: 1)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Ciro_Alban
Ciro_Albano
1) Female 2) Male
Antbird,_Streak-capped Terenura maculata Found: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay
Image by: 1)
Carlos_Henrique 2)
Hector_Bottai - Brazil
Genus Willisornis
Antbird,_Common_Scale-backed Willisornis poecilinotus Found: Amazon basin of South America
Image by: 1)
Jose_Loiza - Ecuador 2)
Nick Athanas - Ecuador 3)
Dick Daniels - Ecuador
Antbird,_Xingu_Scale-backed Willisornis vidua Found: South America
Image by: 1)
Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Luiz_Matos in Brazil 2)
Nick Athanas - Brazil
1) Female 2) Male