Russet Antshrike - BirdForum Opus

Photo by Michael W
Milpe Bird Sanctuary, western foothills, Ecuador, March 2007

Thamnistes anabatinus

Identification

13-16 cm (5-6¼ in)

• Brown upperparts
• Rufous wing and tail
• Dark eyestripe
• Buff supercilium
• Olive underparts
• Heavy hooked bill
  

Sexes similar
Male has rufous-orange patch in the centre of his back.
Juveniles have rufous fringes to the wing coverts and are paler below.

Distribution

Southern Mexico through Central America and western South America (both sides of the Andes) to northern Peru.

Taxonomy

Subspecies

Six subspecies are recognized in this widespread species^[1]:

• T. a. anabatinus:

• Atlantic slope of south-eastern Mexico to Guatemala, Belize and Honduras

• T. a. saturatus:

• Atlantic slope of Nicaragua to Costa Rica and extreme western Panama

• T. a. coronatus:

• Central and eastern Panama (Veraguas to Dari‚n) and north-western Colombia

• T. a. intermedius:

• Pacific slope of western Colombia and Ecuador
  

• T. a. gularis:

• Extreme north-western Venezuela (T chira) and (? adjacent north-eastern Colombia)

• T. a. aequatorialis:

• Foothills of south-eastern Colombia, eastern Ecuador and extreme northern Peru

Habitat

Humid to wet woodland in foothills and lower slopes of mountains.

Behaviour

Breeding

A deep cup shaped nest is built high in a tree and 2 brown speckled white eggs are laid. Both sexes build the nest, incubate the eggs and care for the young.

Diet

The diet includes insects and other arthropods. Often participate in mixed species flocks when feeding.

Vocalisation

Restall quote sources for saying that the subspecies east and west of the Andes differ in vocalizations, and therefore probably are different species.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Restall, R, Rodner, C and Lentino M. 2007. Birds of northern South America. Yale University Press. New Haven and London. ISBN 9780300108620

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Russet Antshrike. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 8 November 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Russet_Antshrike

External Links

Search for photos of Russet Antshrike in the gallery