Zimmer’s Antbird (Sciaphylax castanea)

Identification & Behavior: ~12 cm (4.7 in). The male Zimmer’s Antbird has a gray head, neck, and sides of the breast and belly. It has a black bib. The center of the belly is white. The wing coverts are black with rufous wing bars. The upperparts and tail are chestnut-brown. The female has a gray crown with rufous brown rest of the upperparts. The wing coverts are black and brown with white and buffy wing bars. The breast is reddish-brown. If forages in the understory of floodplain and terra firme forest. It is very similar to the Chestnut-tailed Antbird but these species replace each other geographically.

Status: The Zimmer’s Antbird is uncommon and apparently local on the north side of the Marañon River. It also occurs in Co and Ec.

Name in Spanish: Hormiguero de Zimmer.

Sub-species: Zimmer’s Antbird (Sciaphylax castanea centunculorum) M. L. Isler, Alvarez, P. R. Isler, Valqui, Begazo, and Whitney, 2002. Extreme S Colombia (Putumayo), E Ecuador (Napo, Pastaza) and NE Peru (Loreto).
(Sciaphylax castanea castanea), J. T. Zimmer, 1932. SE Ecuador (Zamora-Chinchipe) and N Peru (San Martín).

Meaning of Name: Sciaphylax: Gr. skia, skias= shadow, shade; phulax, phulakos= watcher, sentinel. castanea: L. kastanon= chestnut, castanea= chestnut.

Formerly known as Myrmeciza castanea (2018).

See more of the Family Thamnophilidae