Blackish Antbird (Cercomacra nigrescens)

Identification & Behavior: ~15 cm (6 in). The male Blackish Antbird is uniformly slaty-gray with small dots on the wing coverts that form poorly defined wing bars. It has a semi-concealed white patch under the scapulars and shoulders. The female has olive-brown upperparts without white wing bars. The sides of the head and all the underparts are chestnut-rufous. The tail in both sexes is relatively long and strongly graduated without markings. It forages in thick foliage and vine tangles in the mid-story and sub-canopy of the forest.

There are two vocally distinctive populations (aequatorialis  and notate) along the foothill of the Andes and fascicauda further onto the Amazonian lowlands. The subspecies fascicauda is considered by some a separate species, the “Riparian Antbird”. It is very similar to the Black  Antbird but is distinguished by a lighter gray plumage, habitat selection, and vocalization.

Status: The Blackish Antbird is generally fairly common. The subspecies notate and aequatorialis range at elevations between 700-2100 m on the east slope of the Andes. The subspecies fascicauda or Riparian Antbird is widespread in Amazonia below the range of the foothill birds. The Blackish Antbird also occurs in Co, Ec, Br, and Bo.

Name in Spanish: Hormiguero Negruzco.

Sub-species: Blackish Antbird (Cercomacra nigrescens aequatorialis), J. T. Zimmer, 1931.   E Andean slopes from S Colombia (Nariño) S to NE Peru (Amazonas, San Martín).
(Cercomacra nigrescens notata), J. T. Zimmer, 1931.  E slopes in EC Peru (W Ucayali S to Junín).
(Cercomacra nigrescens fuscicauda), J. T. Zimmer, 1931.  lowlands in E Ecuador, E Peru, extreme SE Colombia (S Amazonas), SW Amazonian Brazil (SW Amazonas, Acre) and NE Bolivia (Pando, La Paz, W Beni, Cochabamba).

Meaning of Name: Cercomacra: Gr. Kerkos= tail and makros= long. nigrescens: L. nigrescens, nigrescentis= blackish.

See more of the Family Thamnophilidae