Dull-mantled Antbird
Encyclopedia
The Dull-mantled Antbird is a perching bird species
in the antbird
family
(Thamnophilidae). Its scientific name is presently Myrmeciza laemosticta, but as it does not seem to be closely related to the White-bellied Antbird
(M. longipes) – the type species
of the highly paraphyletic "wastebin genus
" Myrmeciza
– it is liable to be assigned to a different genus
in the near future.
. Overall, these birds look essentially blackish grey in the front half and dark reddish brown in the hind part, with a black wing-patch with white spots right where the two main colors meet. But in the dusky forest understory
, the birds may appear all-black, with only the white spotting standing out.
The plumage
of the male is blackish grey on the head, neck, upper mantle and on the underside up to the upper belly, and reddish brown on most of the remaining upperparts and underparts; remiges and rectrices are somewhat darker, with dark reddish brown edges. The throat is black, extenting onto the breast as irregular black spotting. The primary coverts are tipped cinnamon
and the secondary and tertiary coverts are black with white tips on the upperwing; the underwing coverts are all grey. As in many antbirds, there is a white patch between the shoulders; it has some black specks around it. The iris
is red, the bill black, and the feet are lead-grey.
The female is similar but slightly lighter overall; its black throat color has many white spots and does not extend onto the breast. Its secondary coverts and sometimes the crown are tinged cinnamon.
The loudsong of the male consists of a rapid series of short but individually distinct notes, 8 per 1.8 seconds, the fiorst three being slightly upslurred or flat, while the latter 5 are downslurred. Possibly, there is some geographic variation in the song, indication that the two subspecies
might indeed be valid: the songs of the southern population apparently transitions smoothly between the two parts, while in northern birds, it seems that the first notes are all markedly upslurred, abruptly changing to the downslurred notes. The female loudsong resembles that of the male initially, being just raspier; the second part however consists of 2-4 short notes that successively become deeper and more muted. In mated couples, the male often sings first, followed immediately by the female.
The Dull-mantled Antbird also gives very short (0.1 to 0.2 seconds) downslurred burr as well as abrupt chip or chip-chip calls.
:
Among the Thamnophilidae, the "Myrmeciza
" assemblage belongs to the main clade
– conceivably to be treated as a subfamily, but as of yet unnamed – which also contains the typical antwrens of genus Myrmotherula
and its relatives. Traditionally, the "Myrmeciza" antbirds were treated as the namesake genus of a tribe
Myrmecizini, but while there indeed seems to be a clade encompassing the bulk of the presumed tribe – including genera such as Myrmoborus
and the fire-eyes (Pyriglena) –, the undetermined relationships of its type species
Myrmeciza longipes make it unclear whether "Myrmecizini" is actually a valid taxon
and even if this is so, whether it refers to the group traditionally named thus, for some other species of "Myrmeciza" are known not to belong there.
As mentioned above, the Dull-mantled Antbird probably does not belong into Myrmeciza proper, as it is rather unlikely to be a close relative of the White-bellied Antbird
(M. longipes). It is part of a group of species whose heads are uniformly grey, typically dark or even blackish, in males and females, only the throat being black – sometimes spotted white –, pale or (very rarely) brownish in some taxa. Without doubt, its closest living relative is the Esmeraldas Antbird
("M." nigricauda), a sister species occurring to the southwest of the Dull-mantled Antbird's range. The Stub-tailed Antbird ("M." berlepschi) is a hypermelanic
species whose close relationship to the preceding two is still quite obvious; the Chestnut-backed Antbird
("M." exsul) and Grey-headed Antbird
("M." griseiceps) are somewhat more distantly related and uniquely apomorphic; still, they also have an almost completely grey head in both sexes, unlike all other "Myrmeciza".
is tropical moist lowland forest
s, usually between 300-750 m ASL
, but occasionally almost at sea level and sometimes up to 1,500 m ASL. It occurs in the understory
and forest floor, and particularly frequents deep damp ravines in the foothills, in slopes next to streams, and in other areas that have a densely vegetated herbaceous
understory.
The diet of the Dull-mantled Antbird is composed of insect
s and other arthropod
s; recorded prey items are spider
s (Araneae), cockroach
es (Blattaria), beetle
s (Coleoptera), cricket
s (Gryllidae), woodlice (Oniscidea) and indeterminate insect larva
e. It feeds as an individual, as a pair or in small family groups, moving close to the ground – usually not more than 10 cm above the forest floor –, every now and then jumping up to a low branch to take a look around and immediately descending again. Its prey is usually caught by gleaning
, pecked up from between the leaf litter or, after a jump up or a short flutter, from vegetation. It rarely rummages through the leaf litter to search for prey; rather, it will observe its surroundings tensely, beating down its tail forcefully and slowly raising it up again, and then strike directly at something that has attracted its interest. Small prey is devoured immediately; larger animals are beaten vigorously on branches to make them easier to swallow. The species will occasionally follow
army ants but it is not an obligate ant-follower like some other true antbirds or ground antbirds (Formicariidae); while it may join mixed-species feeding flock
s on occasion, it usually prefers to forage on its own or with its family.
Little is known about its breeding behaviour. The only described nest
, found in Colombia in March, was a simple flimsy cup placed low in a pepper plant (Piper
sp.) growing on a steep gorge. The two eggs were white with cinnamon spots at the blunt end. Hardly anything is known about the breeding habits of its relatives either; two-egg clutch
es seem to be the norm however, and the available evidence points towards a prolonged breeding season starting early in the year and lasting perhaps to June in northern South America, and maybe starting in spring and lasting to September or so further north.
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
in the antbird
Antbird
The antbirds are a large family, Thamnophilidae, of passerine birds found across subtropical and tropical Central and South America, from Mexico to Argentina. There are more than 200 species, known variously as antshrikes, antwrens, antvireos, fire-eyes, bare-eyes and bushbirds...
family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
(Thamnophilidae). Its scientific name is presently Myrmeciza laemosticta, but as it does not seem to be closely related to the White-bellied Antbird
White-bellied Antbird
The White-bellied Antbird , is a passerine bird which breeds in the tropical New World from Panama to northern Brazil and in Trinidad. It is also called Swainson's Antcatcher after William John Swainson, who first described it scientifically...
(M. longipes) – the type species
Type species
In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...
of the highly paraphyletic "wastebin genus
Wastebin taxon
Wastebasket taxon is a term used in some taxonomic circles to refer to a taxon that has the sole purpose of classifying organisms that do not fit anywhere else. They are typically defined by their lack of one or more distinct character states or by their not belonging to one or more other taxa...
" Myrmeciza
Myrmeciza
Myrmeciza is a perching bird genus in the family Thamnophilidae. About 20 species have been placed here in recent times, but thus delimited the "genus" is almost certainly not monophyletic....
– it is liable to be assigned to a different genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
in the near future.
Description and systematics
The Dull-mantled Antbird is 13–14 cm long and weighs around 24 gGram
The gram is a metric system unit of mass....
. Overall, these birds look essentially blackish grey in the front half and dark reddish brown in the hind part, with a black wing-patch with white spots right where the two main colors meet. But in the dusky forest understory
Understory
Understory is the term for the area of a forest which grows at the lowest height level below the forest canopy. Plants in the understory consist of a mixture of seedlings and saplings of canopy trees together with understory shrubs and herbs...
, the birds may appear all-black, with only the white spotting standing out.
The plumage
Plumage
Plumage refers both to the layer of feathers that cover a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage vary between species and subspecies and can also vary between different age classes, sexes, and season. Within species there can also be a...
of the male is blackish grey on the head, neck, upper mantle and on the underside up to the upper belly, and reddish brown on most of the remaining upperparts and underparts; remiges and rectrices are somewhat darker, with dark reddish brown edges. The throat is black, extenting onto the breast as irregular black spotting. The primary coverts are tipped cinnamon
Cinnamon
Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several trees from the genus Cinnamomum that is used in both sweet and savoury foods...
and the secondary and tertiary coverts are black with white tips on the upperwing; the underwing coverts are all grey. As in many antbirds, there is a white patch between the shoulders; it has some black specks around it. The iris
Iris (anatomy)
The iris is a thin, circular structure in the eye, responsible for controlling the diameter and size of the pupils and thus the amount of light reaching the retina. "Eye color" is the color of the iris, which can be green, blue, or brown. In some cases it can be hazel , grey, violet, or even pink...
is red, the bill black, and the feet are lead-grey.
The female is similar but slightly lighter overall; its black throat color has many white spots and does not extend onto the breast. Its secondary coverts and sometimes the crown are tinged cinnamon.
The loudsong of the male consists of a rapid series of short but individually distinct notes, 8 per 1.8 seconds, the fiorst three being slightly upslurred or flat, while the latter 5 are downslurred. Possibly, there is some geographic variation in the song, indication that the two subspecies
Subspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
might indeed be valid: the songs of the southern population apparently transitions smoothly between the two parts, while in northern birds, it seems that the first notes are all markedly upslurred, abruptly changing to the downslurred notes. The female loudsong resembles that of the male initially, being just raspier; the second part however consists of 2-4 short notes that successively become deeper and more muted. In mated couples, the male often sings first, followed immediately by the female.
The Dull-mantled Antbird also gives very short (0.1 to 0.2 seconds) downslurred burr as well as abrupt chip or chip-chip calls.
Systematics
There are two subspecies currently recognized, differing little in plumage. Though the variation in appearance might be clinal the different songs argue against the species being monotypicMonotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group with only one biological type. The term's usage differs slightly between botany and zoology. The term monotypic has a separate use in conservation biology, monotypic habitat, regarding species habitat conversion eliminating biodiversity and...
:
- "Myrmeciza" laemosticta laemosticta Salvin, 1865 – CaribbeanCaribbeanThe Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
slope of E Costa RicaCosta RicaCosta Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
to PanamaPanamaPanama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
(on both slopes).
- Plumage darker.
- "Myrmeciza" laemosticta palliata Todd, 1917 – N ColombiaColombiaColombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
and NW VenezuelaVenezuelaVenezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, south to Department of Córdoba, east to MéridaMérida (state)Mérida State is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is Mérida.Mérida State covers a total surface area of 11,300 km² and, in 2007, had an estimated population of 843,800.- Climate and Vegetation :...
and Zulia states. Includes bolivari and venezuelae.
- "Myrmeciza" laemosticta palliata Todd, 1917 – N Colombia
- Plumage paler.
Among the Thamnophilidae, the "Myrmeciza
Myrmeciza
Myrmeciza is a perching bird genus in the family Thamnophilidae. About 20 species have been placed here in recent times, but thus delimited the "genus" is almost certainly not monophyletic....
" assemblage belongs to the main clade
Clade
A clade is a group consisting of a species and all its descendants. In the terms of biological systematics, a clade is a single "branch" on the "tree of life". The idea that such a "natural group" of organisms should be grouped together and given a taxonomic name is central to biological...
– conceivably to be treated as a subfamily, but as of yet unnamed – which also contains the typical antwrens of genus Myrmotherula
Myrmotherula
Myrmotherula is a genus of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. Several species previously included in this genus as the "Stipple-throated group" have now been transferred to a new genus, Epinecrophylla...
and its relatives. Traditionally, the "Myrmeciza" antbirds were treated as the namesake genus of a tribe
Tribe (biology)
In biology, a tribe is a taxonomic rank between family and genus. It is sometimes subdivided into subtribes.Some examples include the tribes: Canini, Acalypheae, Hominini, Bombini, and Antidesmeae.-See also:* Biological classification* Rank...
Myrmecizini, but while there indeed seems to be a clade encompassing the bulk of the presumed tribe – including genera such as Myrmoborus
Myrmoborus
Myrmoborus is a genus of bird in the antbird family Thamnophilidae. The four species occur in the Amazonian woodland and forest in the undergrowth.It contains the following species:* White-browed Antbird...
and the fire-eyes (Pyriglena) –, the undetermined relationships of its type species
Type species
In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...
Myrmeciza longipes make it unclear whether "Myrmecizini" is actually a valid taxon
Taxon
|thumb|270px|[[African elephants]] form a widely-accepted taxon, the [[genus]] LoxodontaA taxon is a group of organisms, which a taxonomist adjudges to be a unit. Usually a taxon is given a name and a rank, although neither is a requirement...
and even if this is so, whether it refers to the group traditionally named thus, for some other species of "Myrmeciza" are known not to belong there.
As mentioned above, the Dull-mantled Antbird probably does not belong into Myrmeciza proper, as it is rather unlikely to be a close relative of the White-bellied Antbird
White-bellied Antbird
The White-bellied Antbird , is a passerine bird which breeds in the tropical New World from Panama to northern Brazil and in Trinidad. It is also called Swainson's Antcatcher after William John Swainson, who first described it scientifically...
(M. longipes). It is part of a group of species whose heads are uniformly grey, typically dark or even blackish, in males and females, only the throat being black – sometimes spotted white –, pale or (very rarely) brownish in some taxa. Without doubt, its closest living relative is the Esmeraldas Antbird
Esmeraldas Antbird
The Esmeraldas Antbird is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in Colombia and Ecuador. The species has been the source of taxonomic confusion in the past, as the male was placed as a separate species...
("M." nigricauda), a sister species occurring to the southwest of the Dull-mantled Antbird's range. The Stub-tailed Antbird ("M." berlepschi) is a hypermelanic
Melanism
Melanism is an undue development of dark-colored pigment in the skin or its appendages, and the opposite of albinism. It is also the medical term for black jaundice.The word is deduced from the , meaning black pigment....
species whose close relationship to the preceding two is still quite obvious; the Chestnut-backed Antbird
Chestnut-backed Antbird
The Chestnut-backed Antbird, Myrmeciza exsul, is a passerine bird in the antbird family. It is found in humid forests in Central and South America , ranging from eastern Nicaragua to western Ecuador...
("M." exsul) and Grey-headed Antbird
Grey-headed Antbird
The Grey-headed Antbird is a species of bird in the Thamnophilidae family. It is found in Ecuador and Peru....
("M." griseiceps) are somewhat more distantly related and uniquely apomorphic; still, they also have an almost completely grey head in both sexes, unlike all other "Myrmeciza".
Ecology
Its natural habitatHabitat
* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...
is tropical moist lowland forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
s, usually between 300-750 m ASL
Above mean sea level
The term above mean sea level refers to the elevation or altitude of any object, relative to the average sea level datum. AMSL is used extensively in radio by engineers to determine the coverage area a station will be able to reach...
, but occasionally almost at sea level and sometimes up to 1,500 m ASL. It occurs in the understory
Understory
Understory is the term for the area of a forest which grows at the lowest height level below the forest canopy. Plants in the understory consist of a mixture of seedlings and saplings of canopy trees together with understory shrubs and herbs...
and forest floor, and particularly frequents deep damp ravines in the foothills, in slopes next to streams, and in other areas that have a densely vegetated herbaceous
Herbaceous
A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaves and stems that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. They have no persistent woody stem above ground...
understory.
The diet of the Dull-mantled Antbird is composed of insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s and other arthropod
Arthropod
An arthropod is an invertebrate animal having an exoskeleton , a segmented body, and jointed appendages. Arthropods are members of the phylum Arthropoda , and include the insects, arachnids, crustaceans, and others...
s; recorded prey items are spider
Spider
Spiders are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, and chelicerae with fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other groups of organisms...
s (Araneae), cockroach
Cockroach
Cockroaches are insects of the order Blattaria or Blattodea, of which about 30 species out of 4,500 total are associated with human habitations...
es (Blattaria), beetle
Beetle
Coleoptera is an order of insects commonly called beetles. The word "coleoptera" is from the Greek , koleos, "sheath"; and , pteron, "wing", thus "sheathed wing". Coleoptera contains more species than any other order, constituting almost 25% of all known life-forms...
s (Coleoptera), cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
s (Gryllidae), woodlice (Oniscidea) and indeterminate insect larva
Larva
A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...
e. It feeds as an individual, as a pair or in small family groups, moving close to the ground – usually not more than 10 cm above the forest floor –, every now and then jumping up to a low branch to take a look around and immediately descending again. Its prey is usually caught by gleaning
Gleaning (birds)
Gleaning is a term for a feeding strategy by birds in which they catch invertebrate prey, mainly arthropods, by plucking them from foliage or the ground, from crevices such as rock faces and under the eaves of houses, or even, as in the case of ticks and lice, from living animals. This behavior is...
, pecked up from between the leaf litter or, after a jump up or a short flutter, from vegetation. It rarely rummages through the leaf litter to search for prey; rather, it will observe its surroundings tensely, beating down its tail forcefully and slowly raising it up again, and then strike directly at something that has attracted its interest. Small prey is devoured immediately; larger animals are beaten vigorously on branches to make them easier to swallow. The species will occasionally follow
Ant-follower
Ant-followers are birds that feed by following swarms of army ants and take prey flushed by those ants. The best known ant-followers are 18 species of antbird in the family Thamnophilidae, but other families of birds may follow ants including thrushes, chats, ant-tanagers, cuckoos, and...
army ants but it is not an obligate ant-follower like some other true antbirds or ground antbirds (Formicariidae); while it may join mixed-species feeding flock
Mixed-species feeding flock
A mixed-species feeding flock, also termed a mixed-species foraging flock, mixed hunting party or informally bird wave, is a flock of usually insectivorous birds of different species, that join each other and move together while foraging...
s on occasion, it usually prefers to forage on its own or with its family.
Little is known about its breeding behaviour. The only described nest
Bird nest
A bird nest is the spot in which a bird lays and incubates its eggs and raises its young. Although the term popularly refers to a specific structure made by the bird itself—such as the grassy cup nest of the American Robin or Eurasian Blackbird, or the elaborately woven hanging nest of the...
, found in Colombia in March, was a simple flimsy cup placed low in a pepper plant (Piper
Piper (genus)
Piper, the pepper plants or pepper vines , are an economically and ecologically important genus in the family Piperaceae...
sp.) growing on a steep gorge. The two eggs were white with cinnamon spots at the blunt end. Hardly anything is known about the breeding habits of its relatives either; two-egg clutch
Clutch (eggs)
A clutch of eggs refers to all the eggs produced by birds or reptiles, often at a single time, particularly those laid in a nest.In birds, destruction of a clutch by predators, , results in double-clutching...
es seem to be the norm however, and the available evidence points towards a prolonged breeding season starting early in the year and lasting perhaps to June in northern South America, and maybe starting in spring and lasting to September or so further north.