Moustached Antwren

Overview

The moustached antwren (Myrmotherula ignota) is a small Neotropical bird belonging to the subfamily Thamnophilinae. It is found across several countries in South and Central America, including Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Peru, and is currently assessed as Least Concern by the IUCN.

Identification

• Measures 7.5 to 8 cm in length and is characterised by a tiny tail.
• Male nominate subspecies display a wide black 'moustache', a black streak through the eye, and white cheeks, contrasting with yellow underparts that have sparse black streaks.
• Females lack the white patch between the shoulders and possess buff to tawny buff streaks on the crown.
• Song consists of an accelerating series of short notes that increase and then decrease in pitch and intensity.

Habitat

Primarily inhabits the canopy and subcanopy of lowland evergreen forest, favouring forest edges, openings created by fallen trees, and watercourses. The species exhibits a disjunct distribution, with the nominate subspecies ranging from Panama through Colombia into Ecuador, and subspecies M. i. obscura extending from central and southeastern Colombia through Peru into western Brazil.

Diet

Feeds on arthropods, particularly insects and spiders, typically foraging singly, in pairs, or in family groups. It actively seeks prey in the mid-storey to canopy by gleaning from foliage, branches, and mosses along thin vines, occasionally fluttering to capture prey in mid-air.

Did you know?

In Peru, a nest was observed to be constructed as a pouch of lichen and spiderweb suspended from a fork in slender twigs.