Northern Slaty-Antshrike (Thamnophilus punctatus)

Identification & Behavior: ~14 cm (5.5 in). The male Northern Slaty-Antshrike is gray with a black crown. The wing coverts are black tipped with white dots that form wing bars. The tertials are fringed with white. The tail feathers are tipped with white. The female has olive-brown upperparts, gray underparts (huallagae) or a pale center of the belly (leucogaster), and a somewhat contrasting rufous crown. The wing coverts and tail feathers are similar to that of the male. It forages in deciduous forest and scrub. Its range does not overlap with that of the very similar Black-crowned Antshrike.

Status: The Northern Slaty-Antshrike is fairly common in two disjunct populations in the Chinchipe and Marañon Valleys and part of the Huallaga Valley. It also occurs in Co, Ec and Br.

Name in Spanish: Batará-Pizarroso Norteño.

Sub-species: Northern Slaty-Antshrike (Thamnophilus punctatus leucogaster), Hellmayr, 1924. R Marañón drainage in extreme S Ecuador (Zamora-Chinchipe) and N Peru (Amazonas, Cajamarca).
(Thamnophilus punctatus huallagae), Carriker, 1934. R Huallaga drainage in N Peru (San Martín).

Meaning of Name: Thamnophilus: Gr. Thamnos= bush and philos= lover. punctatus: L. punctum= spot, punctatus= spotted.

See more of the Family Thamnophilidae