Chestnut-backed Antbird - BirdForum Opus

Poliocrania exsul

Male
Photo by Birdingcraft
Carara National Park, Costa Rica.

Identification

14 cm.
Male

Black head, neck and breast
Chestnut upperparts, wings and tail
Dark brown lower belly and flanks

Female

Brownish-black head and neck

Both sexes have a pale blue bare patch of skin around each eye
Juvenile:duller and more slaty

Distribution

Central and South America
Central America: Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama
South America: Colombia and Ecuador

Taxonomy

Formerly placed in genus Myrmeciza.

Subspecies

There are 5 subspecies^[1]:

C. e. exsul:

Caribbean slope of Nicaragua to western Panama

C. e. occidentalis:

Pacific slope of Costa Rica and western Panama

C. e. niglarus:

Eastern Panama and adjacent extreme north-western Colombia (northern Chocó)

C. e. cassini:

Extreme south-eastern Panama (Darién) and northern Colombia

C. e. maculifer:

Pacific slope of western Colombia and western Ecuador

Habitat

Up to 900m in understory thickets in wet forest, near streams.

Behaviour

Breeding

The cup nest is made from vines, plants and dead leaves, placed low in vegetation. The 2 white eggs, have purple or reddish-brown spots. Both parents care for the young.

Diet

The diet includes insects, lizards and frogs.

Vocalisation

Call: a grating naar
Song: a whistled peeet peeew

References

Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
Avibase
Wikipedia

List of references

Recommended Citation

BirdForum Opus contributors. (2021) Chestnut-backed Antbird. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 29 April 2021 from https://www.birdforum.net/wiki/Chestnut-backed_Antbird

External Links

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