Klages's Antbird

Overview

Klages's antbird (Drymophila klagesi) is a species of bird in the family Thamnophilidae, the 'typical antbirds'. It is found in the Eastern Andes of Colombia and extending into northern Venezuela.

Identification

• Measures 14.5 to 15.5 cm in length and weighs approximately 12 g.
• Adult males feature a black crown and back with thin white streaks, a rufous rump, and white underparts with thin black streaks and bright tawny orange flanks.
• Females are duller than males, displaying olive upperparts with black streaks and a buff-tinged breast.
• The male song consists of two clear rhythmic notes followed by wheezy phrases, often joined by the female with soft descending notes.

Habitat

This species inhabits the understorey to mid-storey of montane evergreen and secondary forest, particularly favouring bamboo thickets and dense undergrowth such as vine tangles. Its distribution is disjunct, found in the Eastern Andes of Colombia and the Serranía del Perijá and Coastal Range in Venezuela, at elevations between 500 and 1,800 m.

Diet

The diet is thought to consist primarily of insects and possibly spiders. It typically forages in pairs or family groups, often lunging from a perch near the ground or in the subcanopy, and seldom joins mixed-species feeding flocks.

Did you know?

Klages's antbird was previously considered a subspecies of the long-tailed antbird (D. caudata) but was split into its own species, leaving D. caudata to be renamed the East Andean antbird.