Manu Antbird (Cercomacra manu)

Identification & Behavior: ~15 cm (6 in). The male Manu Antbird is uniformly black with white wing bars. The female has olive-brown upperparts with whitish wing bars. The sides of the head and all the underparts are gray. The tail in both sexes is relatively long and strongly graduated tipped with large white spots. It forages almost exclusively in stands of Guadua bamboo. It is very similar to the Gray Antbird, but given its close association with bamboo, these two antbirds are unlikely to be found together.

Status: The Manu Antbird is fairly common in bamboo patches in southeast Peru, where it is largely restricted to Madre de Dios. It is known to range to elevations of up to 1350 m along the east slope of the Andes. It also occurs in Br and Bo.

Name in Spanish: Hormiguero del Manu.

Sub-species: Manu Antbird (Cercomacra manu), Fitzpatrick and Willard, 1990.

Meaning of Name: Cercomacra: Gr. Kerkos= tail and makros= long.
Manu: In reference to Manu National Park, Madre de Dios, Peru.

See more of the Family Thamnophilidae