Jet Antbird

About the Jet Antbird

The jet antbird (Cercomacra nigricans) is a species of bird in subfamily Thamnophilinae of family Thamnophilidae, the "typical antbirds". It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Venezuela. The jet antbird was described by the English zoologist Philip Sclater in 1858 and given its current binomial name Cercomacra nigricans. A 2014 study confirmed what had been earlier suggested, that the jet antbird and the Mato Grosso (C. melanaria), Rio Branco (C. carbonaria), and Bananal (C. ferdinandi) antbirds form a clade within genus Cercomacra.

The jet antbird is monotypic. The jet antbird is 14 to 15.5 cm (5.5 to 6.1 in) long and weighs 15 to 17.5 g (0.53 to 0.62 oz). Adult males are almost entirely black, with white edges on their outer scapulars, a white patch between them, and a hidden white patch under them. Their wing coverts and tail feathers have white tips and their flight feathers have white inner edges. Females are mostly blackish gray, with white in the same places as the male. They also have a whitish ring around the eye, thin white streaks on their throat and breast, and white barring on their lower belly. Juvenile males are... Wikipedia →