Yasuni Stiplethroat (Epinecrophylla fjeldsaai)

Identification & Behavior: ~11 cm (4.3 in). The male Brown-backed Antwren has brown upperparts. The sides of the head and rest of the underparts are gray-brown. The throat is checkered with black and white. The wing coverts are black with white and brown wing bars. The female is mostly brown with black wing covers and brown wing bars. The throat and whitish streaked or checkered with black.  In both sexes, the iris is gray. It forages in the upper understory and mid-story of humid montane forests often with mixed species flock. It is similar to the Rufous-tailed Stiplethroat, and Ornate Stiplethroat, but is distinguished by having a brown back and a brown tail.

Status: The Brown-backed Antwren is rare and poorly known in a restricted area in northern Loreto. It appears not to range as far west as the foothill of the Andes. The Brown-backed Antwren also occurs in Ec.

Name in Spanish: Hormiguerito de Dorso Pardo.

Sub-species: Brown-backed Antwren (Epinecrophylla fjeldsaai), (Krabbe, M. L. Isler, P. R. Isler, Whitney, Alvarez, and Greenfield), 1999.

Meaning of Name: Epinecrophylla: Gr. Epi= on, nekros= dead and phullon= leaf. In reference to search for insects on dead hanging leaves. fjeldsaai: In honor of Prof. Jon Fjeldså (b. 1942) Danish ornithologist, Curator of Zoological Mus. Copenhagen, systematist, biogeographer, artist.

See more of the Family Thamnophilidae