Slaty Antwren

Overview

The slaty antwren (Myrmotherula schisticolor) is a small passerine bird belonging to the typical antbirds. It inhabits a variety of moist forested landscapes across Mexico, Central America, and northern South America.

Identification

• A smallish bird measuring 9 to 12 cm in length with a short tail.
• Adult males of the nominate subspecies are mostly dark gray with a hidden white patch between the shoulders, while females have grayish olive upperparts.
• Song is described as an upslurred whistle sounding like 'wheet', delivered as single notes or in quick iterations.
• Calls include a downslurred nasal whine, nasal 'chirr' notes, and sharp 'chip' notes sometimes repeated as a twitter.

Habitat

Found in a disjunct distribution from Mexico through Central America to South America, favoring foothill and montane evergreen forests, cloudforest, and secondary woodland. It generally occupies higher elevations than other members of its genus, ranging from sea level to 2,300 m depending on the region.

Diet

The diet consists probably mostly of insects and spiders. It forages singly, in pairs, in family groups, or in mixed-species flocks, typically gleaning leaves in dense vegetation between 1 and 6 m above the ground, though it may range from the ground up to 12 m.

Did you know?

The nest is a deep cup made of thinly woven fungal rhizomorphs bound by spider silk, typically suspended from a branch fork or between two parallel branches.