- Myrmoborus melanurus
Identification
12.5 cm
Male
- Dark slaty grey
- Lighter on belly
- Blackish face, throat, wings and tail
- Wing-coverts tipped white forming narrow wing-bars
- Semi-concealed white dorsal patch
- Bright red iris
Female
- Brown upperparts and tail
- Indistinct dusky mask
- Whitish underparts
- Buff tinge on breast
- Brown on sides
- Wing-bars as in male.
Distribution
South America: found in tropical north-eastern Peru and adjacent Brazil (extreme western Amazonas).
Patchily distributed in its small range, apparently rare and poorly known.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species[1].
Habitat
Swamps, low bushy forest with tangled vines; small rivers, creeks, islands, and oxbow lakes.
Behaviour
Like other species of this genus pounds tail emphatically downwards and then raises it slowly.
Diet
Feeds presumably on insects and spiders, but details little known.
Forages usually close to the ground, hopping on suspended branches and on vines in woody undergrowth.
Breeding
Nesting recorded in July. The described nest was rather bulky and roughly globular and made of dead plant material. It was concealed on the ground in a clump of grass.
Movements
Presumably a resident species.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, B.L. Sullivan, C. L. Wood, and D. Roberson. 2013. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.8., with updates to August 2013. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Del Hoyo, J, A Elliot, and D Christie, eds. 2003. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 8: Broadbills to Tapaculos. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8487334504
- BirdLife International
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2021) Black-tailed Antbird. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 13 May 2021 from https://www.birdforum.net/wiki/Black-tailed_Antbird
