Jet Antbird

Overview

The jet antbird (Cercomacra nigricans) is a species of bird in the family Thamnophilidae, commonly known as typical antbirds. It is a monotypic species with a disjunct distribution across South and Central America, currently assessed as Least Concern by the IUCN despite a decreasing population trend.

Identification

• Size: Small, measuring 14 to 15.5 cm in length and weighing 15 to 17.5 g.
• Plumage: Adult males are almost entirely black with white edges on outer scapulars and wing/tail tips; females are blackish-gray with similar white markings plus a whitish eye-ring and breast streaks.
• Song: Males sing 4 or more pairs of notes, each pair consisting of a sharp abrupt note followed by a longer burry note, described as harsh paired 'tch-ker' notes.
• Call: A harsh note repeated in series, sounding like 'chak chak chak'.

Habitat

Found in Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Venezuela, the species inhabits a range of forests from subtropical humid types to drier deciduous woodlands. It favours mature secondary forest and primary forest edges with thick understoreys, often near swampy areas or watercourses, reaching elevations up to 1,500 m in Colombia.

Diet

The diet consists of insects and spiders, though it has not been fully detailed. The bird forages between 1 and 10 m above the ground by gleaning and lunging from perches or using short flutter-flights through dense vegetation, seldom joining mixed-species flocks or following army ants.

Did you know?

Nests are cup-shaped structures made of dry grasses suspended from a branch fork low in a bush, containing eggs that are pinkish with complex reddish brown and lilac markings.