Short-tailed Antthrush

About the Short-tailed Antthrush

The short-tailed antthrush (Chamaeza campanisona) is a species of bird in the family Formicariidae. It is found in every mainland South American country except Chile, French Guiana, and Uruguay. The short-tailed antthrush was first formally described by Vieillot in 1818 as Turdus brevicaudus. However, because that binomial had previously applied to another species, by the principle of priority Lichtenstein's 1823 description as Myiothera campanisona is recognized as the original. The species was later moved to its current genus Chamaeza. Its specific epithet comes from the Latin "campana" (bell) and "sonus" (sound) and refers to the species' bell-like song.

The International Ornithological Congress (IOC) assigns the short-tailed antthrush these 11 subspecies: A 2003 publication assigns a twelfth subspecies, C. c. tshororo, though the authors note that it is "doubtfully distinct from [the] nominate" C. c. campanisona. The authors also suggest that the short-tailed antthrush as currently known may include as many as four species. The Clements taxonomy and BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World recognize C. c. tshororo; the IOC includes... Wikipedia →