Variable Antshrike - BirdForum Opus

Male : Ssp. "melanochrous"
Photo by Stanley Jones
Owlet Lodge, Amazonas, Peru, Jan 2017

Thamnophilus caerulescens

Identification

14–16 cm (5½-6¼ in)
Male

• Black forehead and crown
• Grey head sides
• Dark grey upperparts
• Brownish tinge to wings
• White wing-bars
• White tips to the tail feathers

Distribution

South America: found in Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina.

Taxonomy

Female, subspecies melanochrous
Photo by Stanley Jones
Amazonas, Abra Patricia Reserve, Owlet Lodge, Peru, January 2017

Subspecies

There are 8 subspecies^[1]:

• T. c. melanochrous:

• East slope of Andes of Peru (Amazonas south of Río Marañón to northern Puno)

• T. c. aspersiventer:

• South East Peru (Puno) to west-central Bolivia (La Paz and Cochabamba)

• T. c. dinellii:

• Central and southern Bolivia to north-western Argentina

• T. c. paraguayensis:

• South East Bolivia, northern Paraguay and southern Brazil (Mato Grosso do Sul)

• T. c. gilvigaster:

• Extreme south-eastern Brazil to Uruguay and north-eastern Argentina

• T. c. caerulescens:

South East Brazil (Minas Gerais) to south-eastern Paraguay and north-eastern Argentina

• T. c. ochraceiventer:

• East-central Brazil (southern Tocantins, Goiás, Distrito Federal, south-central Bahia)

• T. c. cearensis:

• North East Brazil (Ceará, Pernambuco and Alagoas)

Habitat

Under and mid-storeys of evergreen forest, secondary growth and thickets.

Behaviour

Diet

There is little detailed information available. They are known to eat insects such as moths, katydids and grasshoppers.

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