Dull-mantled Antbird

Overview

The dull-mantled antbird (Sipia laemosticta) is a perching bird species belonging to the subfamily Thamnophilinae within the family Thamnophilidae. It is classified as Least Concern by the IUCN Red List, although its population is believed to be decreasing.

Identification

• Length of 12.5 to 15.0 cm with a mass of approximately 25 g.
• Males feature a blackish-grey to slate-black head and upper mantle, contrasting with dark reddish-brown, chestnut, or olive upperparts that hide a white patch between the scapulars.
• Distinctive vocalisation includes a loudsong beginning with three upslurred or flat notes followed by five evenly paced downslurred notes.
• Both sexes possess red irises and grey legs; females exhibit black throats marked with white spots or bars.

Habitat

Found in Costa Rica, Panama, and extreme northwestern Colombia, the species has a disjunct distribution occupying wet foothill evergreen forest floors and understoreys. It favours ravines and slopes along streams with dense vegetation, as well as regenerating vegetation in landslide scars and tree-fall openings, ranging from near sea level up to 1,000 m.

Diet

The dull-mantled antbird feeds on insects and arthropods such as spiders, foraging mostly on the ground and up to 1 m above it within dense vegetation. It captures prey by gleaning vegetation, picking from leaf litter, or jumping to overhanging branches, and rarely rummages through leaf litter but may join army ant swarms to capture fleeing prey.

Did you know?

When foraging, the bird observes its surroundings tensely, beating its tail down forcefully and slowly raising it again before striking directly at prey. Larger captured animals are beaten vigorously on branches to make them easier to swallow.