Black faced Antthrush (Formicarius analis)

[order] Passeriformes | [family] Formicariidae | [latin] Formicarius analis | [UK] Black-faced Antthrush | [FR] Tetema coq-de-bois | [DE] Schwarzkehl-Ameisendrossel | [ES] Chululu Enmascarado | [IT] Formicario faccianera | [NL] Zwartkeel-mierlijster

The Black-faced Antthrush is similar in general appearance to a rail, with a dumpy body, horizontal carriage, stout bill and short cocked tail. It walks rather than hops, with a jerky motion again reminiscent of a rail.

This species is typically 18?19 cm long, and weighs 59 g. The upperparts are rufous brown, and the underparts are paler brown, except for the black face and throat, and rufous under the tail and behind the eye. The sexes are alike in plumage.

It is found in the tropical New World from southern Mexico through Central America to the northern regions of South America in Colombia, Venezuela, Trinidad and Brazil, and nearly all of the Amazon Basin, the exception the northwest regions.

Low and middle elevation wet forest. Caribbean and southern Pacific slopes; found in forest interior or edge, on or near the ground.

This antthrush is a common and widespread forest bird which can rear even three broods in succession builds a leaf-lined nest in a cavity in a hollow branch or stump. The nest is a mat of flowery material placed on a bottom of dead leaves with the entrance less than 4 meter above ground. Clutch size is 2 eggs, incubated by both parents for about 20 days. Parents will clean the nest, the chicks fledge after about 18 days.

It lives alone or in pairs and walks slowly with its tail up, turning over the foliage on the ground in search of small prey, such as insects, spiders, and other invertebrates. Occasionally it captures small snakes, toads, and lizards. The Black-faced Antthrush is an insectivore which feeds on ants and other insects. It is quite terrestrial, feeding mainly on the ground. It will follow columns of army ants.

This species has a large range, with an estimated global extent of occurrence of 5,200,000 km². The global population size has not been quantified, but it is believed to be large as the species is described as ‘common’ in at least parts of its range (Stotz et al. 1996). Global population trends have not been quantified, but the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e., declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations). For these reasons, the species is evaluated as Least Concern.

Sedentary throughout range.