| Black-and-white antbird | |
|---|---|
%3b_Marchantaria_island%2c_Iranduba%2c_Amazonas%2c_Brazil.jpg) | |
| A male at Marchantaria Island,Iranduba,Amazonas state,Brazil | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Thamnophilidae |
| Genus: | Myrmochanes Allen, 1889 |
| Species: | M. hemileucus |
| Binomial name | |
| Myrmochanes hemileucus (Sclater, PL &Salvin, 1866) | |
 | |
Theblack-and-white antbird (Myrmochanes hemileucus) is a species ofbird in subfamily Thamnophilinae of familyThamnophilidae, the "typical antbirds".[2] It is found inBolivia,Brazil,Colombia,Ecuador, andPeru.[3]
The black-and-white antbird is the only member of genusMyrmochanes and has no subspecies.[2]
The black-and-white antbird was firstdescribed by the English ornithologistsPhilip Sclater andOsbert Salvin in 1866 and given thebinomial nameHypocmenis hemileucus.[4] It was moved to genusMyrmochanes following a proposal by the American ornithologistJoel Asaph Allen in 1889.[5] The species is included in the tribe Formicivorini along with three other genera,Formicivora,Myrmotherula, andTerenura.[6]
The black-and-white antbird is 10 to 12.2 cm (3.9 to 4.8 in) long and weighs 12 to 13 g (0.42 to 0.46 oz). Adult males' face, crown, nape, and upperparts are black except for a mostly hidden white patch between the shoulders. Their wings are black with sparse white tips on thecoverts. Their tail is short, somewhat graduated, and black with white tips on the feathers. Their throat and underparts are white with variable amounts of buff on the flanks and belly. Adult females resemble males with the addition of white spots on thelores and a buffier belly and undertail coverts. The species' bill is long, slender, and black, its iris brown, and its legs and feet gray.[7][8][9][10]
The black-and-white antbird is found in the westernAmazon Basin along the Amazon from its origin in Peru to the mouth of theRio Madeira in Brazil, and also along its major tributaries. It occurs along theRio Napo from northwestern Ecuador through northern Peru to its confluence with the Amazon. In Peru it also occurs along the riosUcayali andMarañón to where their confluence creates the Amazon, and on the Amazon itself. From the south it occurs along theRio Madeira through central Bolivia and Brazil to the Amazon. In far southern Colombia it occurs only along the Amazon where the river forms the border with Peru.[7][8][9][10]
The black-and-white antbird is found almost exclusively on river islands, though it has been observed in agricultural plots on the mainland. It favors young to middle-aged islands withTessaria scrub and vine tangles in the understory of tallCecropia forest.[7][8][9][10][11][12]
The black-and-white antbird is essentially a year-round resident throughout its range, but during the wet season when many islands are flooded it probably makes short-distance movements to larger islands or the mainland.[7]
The diet of the black-and-white antbirds is not known in detail but includes insects and probably spiders. It typically forages in pairs or family groups, less often singly, and never as part of amixed-species feeding flock. It mostly forages in vine tangles and other vegetation in the understory ofCecropia woods, and usually between about 1 and 4 m (3 and 13 ft) of the ground but occasionally as high as 8 m (26 ft). It takes most of its prey by gleaning from leaves, bark, and grass blades. It forages very actively, often by lunging after prey, and sometimes makes short sallies from a perch.[7][9][11]
Nothing is known about the black-and-white antbird's breeding biology.[7]
| Songs and calls |
The black-and-white antbird's song is "an accelerating, descending, series of hollow, piping notes:PU-pu-pu'pu'puprrrrr" that is often sung as a duet with the female's voice being higher pitched. Its calls include "a series of hollow piping notespu pu pu, also a more rapid musical rattle (similar to end of song), sometimes in series, also a singlepeu and a bisyllabictuk-et"[13]
TheIUCN has assessed the black-and-white antbird as being of Least Concern. It has a large range; its population size is not known but is believed to be stable. No immediate threats have been identified.[1] It is considered locally not uncommon to fairly common. "Human activity has little short-term direct effect on the Black-and-white Antbird, other than the local effects of habitat destruction, [however it] potentially is vulnerable to widespread habitat loss, as might occur through perturbations of the Amazonian hydrological regime stemming from widespread deforestation, dam construction, or global climate change."[7] One study predicts that the species will lose at least 50% of its habitat within Brazil due to infrastructure development.[14]
