White-shouldered Antbird

About the White-shouldered Antbird

The white-shouldered antbird (Akletos melanoceps) is a species of bird in subfamily Thamnophilinae of family Thamnophilidae, the "typical antbirds". It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. The white-shouldered antbird was described and illustrated by the German naturalist Johann Baptist von Spix in 1825 and given the binomial name Thamnophilus melanoceps. It was subsequently moved to the genus Myrmeciza. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2013 found that Myrmeciza was polyphyletic. In the resulting rearrangement to create monophyletic genera, this species was moved to a newly created genus Inundicola. A year later the same authors determined that by the principle of priority the older genus Akletos, which had been introduced by the Polish ornithologist Andrzej Dunajewski in 1948, was proper.

The white-shouldered antbird shares genus Akletos with Goeldi's antbird (A. goeldii). It is monotypic. The white-shouldered antbird is 17 to 18.5 cm (6.7 to 7.3 in) long and weighs 36 to 40 g (1.3 to 1.4 oz). Both sexes have a ring of bare blue skin around their eye and a red iris. Adult males are mostly black with a small white... Wikipedia →