Band-tailed Antbird

About the Band-tailed Antbird

The band-tailed antbird (Hypocnemoides maculicauda) is a species of bird in subfamily Thamnophilinae of family Thamnophilidae, the "typical antbirds". It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, and Peru. The band-tailed antbird was described by the Austrian ornithologist August von Pelzeln in 1868 and given the binomial name Hypocnemis maculicauda.; it was later transferred to genus Hypocnemoides. It shares that genus with the black-chinned antbird (H. melanopogon). However, some authors have said that the "[r]easons for treatment of Hypocnemoides maculicauda as a separate species from H. melanopogon are weak".

The band-tailed antbird is monotypic. One ornithologist proposed that the eastern population be treated as a subspecies H. m. orientalis but later work discounted that treatment. The band-tailed antbird is about 12 cm (4.7 in) long and weighs 11.5 to 14.5 g (0.41 to 0.51 oz). Adult males have leaden gray upperparts with a large but usually hidden white patch between their scapulars. Their tail is slate gray with wide white feather tips. Their flight feathers are leaden gray with lighter gray edges and their wing coverts are black... Wikipedia →