Ornate Stiplethroat (Epinecrophylla ornata)

Identification & Behavior: ~10.5 cm (4.1 in). The male Ornate Stiplethroat has a red-rufous back and rump (saturate, north of the Amazon) or gray to gray-brown (meridionalis and atrogularis, south of the Amazon). The head, neck, and, rest of the underparts and tail are gray. It has a solid black throat. The wing coverts are black with white wing bars. The female has rufous back and rump (saturate) or brown (meridionalis). The female of the two forms has brown underparts and a throat checkered with black and white. It forages in the upper understory and midstory of the forest with mixed species flock. In southeast Peru, the Ornate Stiplethroat is found nearly exclusively in stands of Guadua Bamboo.  The (meridionalis) male is similar to a male Gray Antwren. The females differ from other female stiplethroats by having a throat checkered with black and white.

Status: The Ornate Stiplethroat is uncommon to rare in disjunct populations north and south of the Amazon River. The birds south of the Amazon are known to range up to 1500 m on the east slope of the Andes. It also occurs in Co, Ec, Br, and Bo.

Name in Spanish: Hormiguerito Adornado.

Sub-species: Ornate Stiplethroat (Epinecrophylla ornata saturata), (Chapman), 1923.  SC Colombia (E Nariño, E Cauca, Putumayo), E Ecuador and NE Peru (N of R Marañón, W of R Napo).
(Epinecrophylla ornata atrogularis), (Taczanowski), 1874.  EC Peru (San Martín S to Ayacucho and Cuzco, E to Ucayali) and extreme SW Amazonian Brazil (extreme SW Amazonas, W Acre).
(Epinecrophylla ornata meridionalis), (J. T. Zimmer), 1932.  SE Peru (Madre de Dios, Puno), adjacent Brazil (E Acre) and NW Bolivia (Pando, La Paz, Cochabamba).

Meaning of Name: Epinecrophylla: Gr. Epi= on, nekros= dead and phullon= leaf. In reference to search for insects on dead hanging leaves. ornata: L. ornatus= ornate, adorned, decorated, splendid, embellished.

See more of the Family Thamnophilidae