Ocellated antbird

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Ocellated antbird
Phaenostictus-mcleannani-001.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Thamnophilidae
Genus: Phaenostictus
Ridgway, 1909
Species:
P. mcleannani
Binomial name
Phaenostictus mcleannani
(Lawrence, 1860)
Phaenostictus mcleannani map.svg

The ocellated antbird (Phaenostictus mcleannani) is a species of antbird in the family Thamnophilidae. It is monotypic within the genus Phaenostictus and is found in southern Central America and the northwestern part of South America. Its natural habitat is the understory of tropical moist lowland forest, foothill forest, and tall secondary growth woodlands.

Contents

The species is 19 cm long and weighs around 50 g. The eye is surrounded by a large area of bare blue coloured skin. The plumage varies slightly amongst the three subspecies, but overall it has a grey crown, black throat with a buff breast changing into a spotted belly and back.

The bird feeds primarily on insects, arthropods, and sometimes on small lizards. Most of its prey is obtained from trails of army ants, which flush the prey from hiding places. One such army ant species is Eciton burchellii . The ocellated antbird is considered an obligate follower of army ants, seldom foraging away from swarms. Amongst the species of antbirds and other army ant followers (such as tanagers and woodcreepers) it is usually a dominant species.

The social biology of this species is unusual for the antbird family. The breeding pair form the nucleus of a group or clan that includes their male offspring and their mates. These clans work together to defend territories against rivals. The open nest cup was only recently described, with a clutch of two eggs. [2]

Taxonomy

Illustration by Joseph Smit from 1869 PhlogopsisMacleannaniSmit.jpg
Illustration by Joseph Smit from 1869

The ocellated antbird was formally described in 1861 by the American amateur ornithologist George Newbold Lawrence and given the binomial name Phlogopsis mcleannani (misspelled as Meleannani). The specific epithet honours James McLeannan, a railway engineer on the Panama Canal Railway, who had collected the specimen in Panama. [3] The ocellated antbird is now placed in the genus Phaenostictus that was erected in 1909 by the American ornithologist Robert Ridgway. [4] The genus name is derived from the Ancient Greek phainō meaning "to display" and stiktos for "spotted". [5] Ridgway considered that the species was related to the genus Phlegopsis (the bare-eyes) but that it differed in having a longer tail, rounded nostrils and a few other characters. [4]

Molecular phylogenetic studies of the antbird family, Thamnophilidae, have found that the ocellated antbird sits in the tribe Pithyini and its closest relatives are found in the genus Pithys . [6]

Three subspecies have been described: [7]

Description

The ocellated antbird is a medium-sized antbird, measuring 19 to 19.5 cm (7.5–7.7 in) [7] and weighing 44–58 g (1.6–2.0 oz). Females tend to be slightly smaller than males and weigh slightly less. [8] The plumage and bare parts of the male and female are the same. The eye is surrounded by a large bare blue patch of skin. The head and throat is black with a grey crown and a rufous nape . The upperparts and wing coverts are olive brown with black spots. The rest of the feathers of the wing are black edged with olive. The breast is rufous and belly is olive brown, both have large black spots. The bill is large and black. Juvenile birds have a darker crown, the rufous areas are brighter and the spots are reduced or absent. [7] The species conforms with Bergmann's rule, with birds closer to the Equator having smaller wings and bills than those further away. [8]

Distribution and habitat

The ocellated antbird ranges from Honduras to Ecuador. The race saturatus is found from northern and eastern Honduras through eastern Nicaragua, eastern and northern Costa Rica into the west of Panama. The nominate race is found in the rest of Panama and the Pacific slope as the Andean slope of western Colombia. The race pacificus is found in the extreme south of coastal Colombia and northwestern Ecuador. [7]

The ocellated antbird is a rainforest bird, being found in lowland and hill primary rainforest, as well as secondary forest. Within this habitat it occupies the understory of the forest, feeding and living close to the forest floor. It is found from sea-level up to 1,200 m (3,900 ft) in Costa Rica, but only up as high as 900 m (3,000 ft) in Panama and Colombia and 700 m (2,300 ft) in Ecuador; it is more commonly found below 400 m (1,300 ft) in the later country. [7] They seldom enter or cross open areas, unless the ants that they are following do so. [9]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chestnut-backed antbird</span> Species of bird

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fasciated antshrike</span> Species of bird

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bicolored antbird</span> Species of bird

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-throated antbird</span> Species of bird

The black-throated antbird is a species of passerine bird in subfamily Thamnophilinae of family Thamnophilidae, the "typical antbirds". It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern chestnut-tailed antbird</span> Species of bird

The northern chestnut-tailed antbird is a species of bird in the family Thamnophilidae. It is found in the Amazon Rainforest in northeastern Peru and far eastern Ecuador.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue-lored antbird</span> Species of bird

The blue-lored antbird is a species of antbird in the family Thamnophilidae. It is found at low levels in humid Andean forests in western and northern Colombia, western Venezuela. It formerly included the Zeledon's antbird as a subspecies. The blue-lored antbird feeds on insects, and regularly follows swarms of army ants in order to catch prey flushed by the swarms, but it is not an obligate ant-follower like some species of antbirds. The blue-lored antbird is strongly sexually dichromatic: the male has an entirely black plumage, while the female has a rufous-brown plumage and a black mask. Both sexes have a blue patch of skin around the eyes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stripe-backed antbird</span> Species of bird

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wing-banded antbird</span> Species of bird

The wing-banded antbird is a species of passerine bird in subfamily Myrmornithinae of family Thamnophilidae, the "typical antbirds". It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rufous-tailed stipplethroat</span> Species of bird

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rufous-backed stipplethroat</span> Species of bird

The rufous-backed stipplethroat is a species of bird in subfamily Thamnophilinae of family Thamnophilidae, the "typical antbirds". It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. In its complex taxonomic history, Epinecrophylla haematonota has also been called the rufous-backed antwren, stipple-throated antwren, Napo stipple-throated antwren, and western stipple-throated antwren.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-spotted bare-eye</span> Species of passerine bird

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">White-plumed antbird</span> Species of bird

The white-plumed antbird is a small species of insectivorous bird found in the understories of rainforests. It is smaller than most species of its family (Thamnophilidae), weighing 26 grams on average. The family Thamnophilidae is known commonly as the antbirds, as they use the presence of ants to locate food. This species is largely solitary except during the breeding season, and different individuals will follow individual ant swarms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hairy-crested antbird</span> Species of bird

The hairy-crested antbird is a species of bird in the family Thamnophilidae. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.

<i>Myrmelastes</i> Genus of birds

Myrmelastes is a genus of passerine birds in the family Thamnophilidae. Most of these species were previously placed in the genus Schistocichla. The genus formerly included only three species, but several taxa previously considered subspecies of the spot-winged antbird have been elevated to species status.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rufous-rumped antwren</span> Species of bird

The rufous-rumped antwren is a species of bird in subfamily Euchrepomidinae of family Thamnophilidae, the "typical antbirds". It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zeledon's antbird</span> Species of bird

Zeledon's antbird is a species of antbird in the family Thamnophilidae. It is found at low levels in humid forests from Nicaragua to Panama, and in the Chocó of western Colombia and western Ecuador. Zeledon's antbird feeds on insects, and regularly follows swarms of army ants in order to catch prey flushed by the swarms, but it is not an obligate ant-follower like some species of antbirds.

References

  1. BirdLife International (2016). "Phaenostictus mcleannani". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T22701971A93855493. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22701971A93855493.en . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. Buehler, Deborah M.; Castillo, Alberto I.; Brawn, Jeffrey D. (2004). "First nest description for the Ocellated Antbird (Phaenostictus mcleannani)". Wilson Bulletin. 116 (3): 277–279. doi:10.1676/04-006. S2CID   7030014.
  3. Lawrence, George Newbold (1862). "Descriptions of new species of birds of the genera Myiarcus and Phlogopsis". Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York. 7: 284–286 [285–286]. doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.1862.tb00157.x. The volume is dated 1862 but the article was published in 1861.
  4. 1 2 Ridgway, Robert (1909). "New genera, species and subspecies of Formicariidae, Furnariidae, and Dendrocolaptidae". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 22: 69–74 [70].
  5. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 300. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
  6. Isler, M. L.; Bravo, G. A.; Brumfield, R. T. (2013). "Taxonomic revision of Myrmeciza (Aves: Passeriformes: Thamnophilidae) into 12 genera based on phylogenetic, morphological, behavioral, and ecological data". Zootaxa. 3717 (4): 469–97. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3717.4.3. PMID   26176119.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Zimmer, K; Isler, M (2019). del Hoyo, Josep; Elliott, Andrew; Sargatal, Jordi; Christie, David A; de Juana, Eduardo (eds.). "Ocellated Antbird (Phaenostictus mcleannani)" . Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  8. 1 2 Willis 1973, p. 3.
  9. Willis 1973, p. 10.

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