Todd's Antwren

Overview

Todd's antwren is a small bird in the typical antbird family, found in the subcanopy and canopy of humid evergreen forests in northern South America. It is considered a year-round resident throughout its range in Venezuela, the Guianas, and northeastern Brazil.

Identification

• Adults are 10 to 11 cm long, with males featuring a black forehead with short white streaks, a long white supercilium, and a white throat.
• Males have light gray backs with small black patches and black wings with white-tipped coverts.
• Females resemble males but have a buff-tinged forehead and a light buff breast.
• The song is a short, high, rapid series of about 12 notes that descend and slow down, serving as the key feature to distinguish it from the similar spot-tailed antwren.

Habitat

This species inhabits the subcanopy and canopy of humid evergreen forest in lowlands and foothills, ranging from sea level to 700 m. It favors tall forest on rich soil and is largely absent from forested savanna or seasonally flooded areas, occurring from eastern Venezuela through the Guianas into northeastern Brazil.

Diet

The diet consists mostly of arthropods, captured by gleaning leaves, stems, and vines by reaching from a perch. It forages actively but methodically between 20 and 40 m above the ground, often as part of mixed-species feeding flocks.

Did you know?

Todd's antwren is so difficult to see in the forest canopy that its song is the most reliable way to distinguish it from the very similar spot-tailed antwren.