Yellow-breasted Antwren (Herpsilochmus axillaris)

Identification & Behavior: ~12 cm (4.7 in). The male Yellow-breasted Antwren has a black crown speckled with white and bordered by a poorly defined pale supercilium. The back is yellow-olive. The wing coverts are black with two white wing bars and white-spotted shoulders. The underparts are yellowish. The tail feathers are tipped with large white spots. The female is similar but has a brown crown. It forages in the canopy of humid montane forest often in the company of mixed species flocks. It is similar to the Rufous-winged Antwren but is distinguished by having yellow-olive wing panels and pale spots on the crown. It does not overlap with the Ancient Antwren.

Status: The Yellow-breasted Antwren generally rare in montane forests of the east slope of the Andes at elevations ranging between 750-1900 m. It also occurs in Co and Ec.

Name in Spanish: Hormiguerito de Pecho Amarillo.

Sub-species: Yellow-breasted Antwren (Herpsilochmus axillaris aequatorialis), Taczanowski and Berlepsch, 1885.   E slope of Andes in E Ecuador and N Peru (N of R Marañón).
(Herpsilochmus axillaris puncticeps Taczanowski), 1882.  EC Peru S of R Marañón (S to Junín).
(Herpsilochmus axillaris axillaris) (Tschudi), 1844.  E slope in SE Peru (Cuzco E to Puno).

Meaning of Name: Herpsilochmus: Gr. Herpo= to creep about and lokhme= thicket, copse. axillaris: L. axilla= armpit, axillaris= of the armpit.

See more of the Family Thamnophilidae