Bananal Antbird

Overview

The Bananal antbird (Cercomacra ferdinandi) is a Near Threatened species of bird in the family Thamnophilidae, endemic to central Brazil. It forms a clade with the Mato Grosso, Rio Branco, and jet antbirds within the genus Cercomacra. The species is currently assessed as having a decreasing population, with estimates between 15,000 and 350,000 mature individuals.

Identification

• Adult males are almost entirely black with white edges on outer scapulars, a white patch between them, and white tips on wing coverts and tail feathers.
• Females are mostly gray with similar white markings to males, plus thin white streaks on the throat and breast.
• The bird measures approximately 16 cm in length and weighs around 15 g.
• Its song consists of a hurried, squeaky 'tudr-tudr-tudr' randomly combined with a very fast, high 'wididi' call.

Habitat

The species inhabits gallery forest and nearby mature secondary forest near water bodies such as oxbow lakes, occurring almost entirely in dense vegetation like vine tangles from the understorey to the mid-storey. Its range is centred on Ilha do Bananal in the Araguaia and extends from northwestern Goiás and eastern Mato Grosso through western Tocantins into southeastern Pará and western Maranhão.

Diet

Diet is known to consist of insects and probably includes spiders. Foraging typically occurs between 3 and 15 m above the ground, but individuals regularly pursue prey to the ground, seldom joining mixed-species feeding flocks.

Did you know?

The species is particularly susceptible to changes in hydrological management, with hydroelectric projects posing the greatest threat by likely flooding large parts of its habitat. Despite these pressures, it has extended its range southward since the turn of the twenty-first century.