Black-throated Antshrike

Overview

The black-throated antshrike (Frederickena viridis) is a large, dark antbird native to the Guiana Shield. It is the only member of its genus and is assessed as a species of Least Concern by the IUCN.

Identification

• A large dark antbird measuring 19 to 22 cm in length and weighing 65 to 75 g, featuring a heavy black bill with a hook at the end similar to true shrikes and red irises.
• Both sexes possess a crest that is usually flattened; adult males are mostly slate gray with a black head, throat, and breast, whereas adult females display a rufous crest, nape, upperparts, and wings with barred underparts.
• The song consists of a slow series of 10–15 first rising, then levelling out, fluted 'tuh' notes spanning six to seven seconds, or a steady pace of clear, insistent whistles described as 'peeeur, peeeur, peeur'.
• The call is a long, approximately one-second, nasal, downward-inflected 'churr'.

Habitat

Found from eastern Bolívar state in Venezuela east through the Guianas and into northeastern Amazonian Brazil, it inhabits lowland evergreen forest, typically on sandy soils in terra firme. It favours dense vegetation in the understorey, especially at openings formed by fallen trees, ranging in elevation from sea level to 700 m, though only to 500 m in Venezuela.

Diet

The diet is known to include large insects and other arthropods. It forages singly or in pairs, mostly low to the ground or on it in dense foliage, hopping deliberately to glean prey from leaves, stems, branches, leaf litter, and rotten logs. It occasionally follows army ant swarms to catch prey disturbed by the ants.

Did you know?

Although little is known about its parental care, the only documented nest was a basket suspended in a branch fork in a low shrub, containing two creamy white eggs with purplish markings.