Creamy-bellied Antwren (Herpsilochmus motacilloides)

Identification & Behavior: ~12 cm (4.7 in). The male Creamy-bellied Antwren has a black cap bordered by a broad white supercilium. The back is gray. The wing coverts are black with two white wing bars. The underparts are grayish white with a tinge of yellowish. The tail feathers are tipped with large white spots. The female is similar but has white streaks on the crown. It forages in the canopy and sub-canopy of humid montane forest often with mixed species flocks. It is very similar to the Ash-throated Antwren but their ranges do not overlap. The also similar Rufous-winged Antwren has conspicuous rufous wing panels.

Status: Endemic. The Creamy-bellied Antwren is uncommon to rare in montane forests of the east slope of the Andes at elevations ranging between 900-2100 m.

Name in Spanish: Hormiguerito de Vientre Cremoso.

Sub-species: Creamy-bellied Antwren (Herpsilochmus motacilloides Taczanowski), 1874.

Meaning of Name: Herpsilochmus: Gr. Herpo= to creep about and lokhme= thicket, copse. motacilloides: Gr. Genus Motacilla Linnaeus, 1758, wagtail and oides= resembling.

See more of the Family Thamnophilidae