Yellow-breasted warbling antbird

Not to be confused with yellow-breasted warbler.

Yellow-breasted warbling antbird
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1) [1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Thamnophilidae
Genus:	Hypocnemis
Species:	H. subflava
Binomial name
Hypocnemis subflava Cabanis, 1873
Synonyms
Hypocnemis cantator subflava and Hypocnemis cantator collinsi

The yellow-breasted warbling antbird or yellow-breasted antwarbler ^[2] , (Hypocnemis subflava) is a species of bird in subfamily Thamnophilinae of family Thamnophilidae, the "typical antbirds". It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru. ^[3]

Taxonomy and systematics

The yellow-breasted warbling antbird was described by the German ornithologist Jean Cabanis in 1873 and given its current binomial name Hypocnemis subflava. ^[4] It was later, and for a long time, considered a subspecies of the then warbling antbird Hypocnemis cantator sensu lato . Following a study published in 2007 that assessed vocal differences and to a lesser degree differences in plumages among the warbling antbird's subspecies, it and several others were elevated to full species status. ^{[3] [5] [6]}

The yellow-breasted warbling antbird has two subspecies, the nominate H. s. subflava (Cabanis, 1873) and H. s. collinsi (Cherrie, 1916). ^[3]

Description

The yellow-breasted warbling antbird is about 12 cm (4.7 in) long and weighs about 14 g (0.49 oz). Adult males of the nominate subspecies have a black crown with a white central streak and a white supercilium on an otherwise black and white speckled face. Their upperparts are gray with a white patch between the scapulars and heavy black and white speckling. Their flight feathers are gray-brown with yellowish olive-brown edges and their wing coverts black with white tips. Their tail is gray-brown with pale buff tips to the feathers. Their underparts are mostly plain yellow with weak rufous flanks and pale buff undertail coverts. Females have the same pattern but different colors than males. Their upperparts are heavily marked with dusky and buff. Subspecies H. s. collinsi has paler gray upperparts than the nominate, with fewer black and white spots; females have pale olive-gray upperparts. ^{[7] [8] [9]}

Distribution and habitat

The nominate subspecies of the yellow-breasted warbling antbird is found in the Andean foothills of east-central Peru between the departments of Huánuco and Cuzco. Subspecies H. s. collinsi is found south of the nominate, in southern Peru, Acre state in Brazil, and west-central Bolivia south to Cochabamba Department. The species primarily inhabits the edges, gaps, and watercourses in evergreen forest and also mature secondary forest. Both subspecies favor stands of bamboo to some extent, and in some areas H. s. collinsi is found primarily in bamboo. In most of its range it occurs below 300 m (1,000 ft) of elevation but it reaches 1,600 m (5,200 ft) in southeastern Peru. ^{[7] [8] [9]}

Behavior

Movement

The yellow-breasted warbling antbird is believed to be a year-round resident throughout its range. ^[7]

Feeding

The yellow-breasted warbling antbird's diet and foraging behavior are not known in detail, but it feeds primarily on insects and spiders. Its diet and behavior are assumed to be very similar to those of its previous "parent" H. cantator, which see here. It does feed more often at clusters of dead leaves than cantator. ^[7]

Breeding

The yellow-breasted warbling antbird's breeding biology is known only from southeastern Peru. Its nesting season there spans August to September. It builds a deep pouch nest from palm fronds, bamboo leaves, other dead leaves, and moss with a lining of dry grass and rootlets. Most nests were suspended between 0.3 and 1.8 m (1 and 6 ft) above the ground. Its eggs are white with highly variable brownish-red or maroon specks and streaks. Both parents incubate during the day and the female alone at night, and both parents brood and provision nestlings. The incubation period is not known; at one nest young fledged 11 days after hatch. ^[7]

Songs and calls Listen to the yellow-breasted warbling antbird on xeno-canto

Vocalization

The yellow-breasted warbling antbird's song is written "chee cher-CHEER-cheer-cher-chrrr" and its call as "hrjzz hrjzzesh". ^[9]

Status

The IUCN has assessed the yellow-breasted warbling antbird as being of Least Concern. Its population size is not known but is believed to be increasing. No immediate threats have been identified. ^[1] It is considered fairly common to common in parts of its range though uncommon to fairly common in Peru. ^{[7] [9]} It occurs in several protected areas. ^[7]

References

1. BirdLife International (2016). "Yellow-breasted Antwarbler Hypocnemis subflava". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T22735485A95112952. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22735485A95112952.en . Retrieved 21 June 2024.
2. HBW and BirdLife International (2023). Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 8. Available at: https://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy retrieved December 28, 2023
3. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (January 2024). "Antbirds". IOC World Bird List. v 14.1. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
4. Cabanis, Jean (1873). "Deutsche ornithologische Gesellschaft zu Berlin". Journal für Ornithologie (in German). 21 (121): 51–80 [65].
5. Isler, M.L.; Isler, P.R.; Whitney, B.M. (2007). "Species limits in antbirds (Thamnophilidae): the Warbling Antbird (Hypocnemis cantator) complex". Auk. 124 (1): 11–28. doi: 10.1642/0004-8038(2007)124[11:SLIATT]2.0.CO;2 .
6. Lebbin, Daniel (August 2007). "Proposal (299): Split Hypocnemis cantator by elevating H. flavescens, peruviana, subflava, ochrogyna and striata to species rank". South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
7. del Hoyo, J., N. Collar, and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Yellow-breasted Warbling-Antbird (Hypocnemis subflava), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.yebwaa1.01 retrieved June 21, 2024
8. van Perlo, Ber (2009). A Field Guide to the Birds of Brazil. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 254–255. ISBN   978-0-19-530155-7.
9. Schulenberg, T.S., D.F. Stotz, D.F. Lane, J.P. O’Neill, and T.A. Parker III. 2010. Birds of Peru. Revised and updated edition. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey. Plate 168.