White-shouldered Antshrike (Thamnophilus aethiops)

Identification & Behavior: ~16 cm (6.2 in). The male White-shouldered Antshrike can vary from slaty gray (kapouni) to black (aethiops).  The wing coverts in the carpal area or shoulders are fringed with white. The female of the sub-species kapouni is uniformly rufous-chestnut. The female aethiops is rufous-brown. It forages in the upper understory and midstory of the forest in Amazonia. The male is similar to the White-shouldered Antbird and Sooty Antbird but lacks the blue skin around the eye of the antbirds.

Status: The White-shouldered Antshrike is uncommon and widespread in Amazonia where it is known to range up to 1200 m along the east slope of the Andes. It also occurs in Co, Ec, Br, and Bo.

Name in Spanish: Batará de Hombro Blanco.

Sub-species: White-shouldered Antshrike (Thamnophilus aethiops aethiops), P. L. Sclater, 1858. foothill region in E Ecuador and N Peru (N of R Marañón).
(Thamnophilus aethiops kapouni), Seilern, 1913. E Peru (S of R Marañón and R Amazon), extreme W Brazil (SW Amazonas E to R Juruá) and N Bolivia (Pando S to La Paz and Cochabamba).

Meaning of Name: Thamnophilus: Gr. Thamnos= bush and philos= lover. aethiops: Gr. Aitho= to burn and ops, opos= face.

See more of the Family Thamnophilidae