The Amazonian streaked antwren (''Myrmotherula multostriata'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

in the family Thamnophilidae. It is found in South America where its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s are subtropical or tropical moist lowland

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s and subtropical or tropical

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

Taxonomy

The Amazonian streaked antwren was described and illustrated by the English zoologist Philip Sclater in 1858 and given its current

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''Myrmotherula multostriata''.

Description

The Amazonian streaked antwren is about long and is very similar in appearance to the

Guianan streaked antwren The Guianan streaked antwren (''Myrmotherula surinamensis'') is a species of bird in subfamily Thamnophilinae of family Thamnophilidae, the "typical antbirds". It is found in Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela.Rems ...

(''Myrmotherula surinamensis'') and the

Pacific antwren The Pacific antwren or Pacific streaked antwren (''Myrmotherula pacifica'') is a species of bird in subfamily Thamnophilinae of family Thamnophilidae, the "typical antbirds". It is found in Colombia, Ecuador and Panama. Taxonomy and systemati ...

(''Myrmotherula pacifica''), and for a long time they were considered to be conspecific; however, there are some differences in the plumage and the vocalizations of each are distinctive. The male Amazonian streaked antwren has a black head, black upper parts streaked with white, a semi-concealed white dorsal patch, and black wings with two white bars. The underparts are white streaked with black. The female has an orange-rufous crown and nape but otherwise the upper parts are similar to the male. Her underparts are ochre with fine black streaks and a paler belly. The song is more musical than that of the Guianan streaked antwren. It also utters various trills and call notes.

Distribution and habitat

The Amazonian streaked antwren occurs in eastern Colombia, southern Venezuela, eastern Ecuador, eastern Peru, and western and central Brazil. The northernmost boundary of its range coincides with the

Amazon River The Amazon River (, ; es, Río Amazonas, pt, Rio Amazonas) in South America is the largest river by discharge volume of water in the world, and the disputed longest river system in the world in comparison to the Nile. The headwaters of t ...

and the lower stretches of its left-bank tributary, the Rio Negro. The southernmost boundary is

Mato Grosso Mato Grosso ( – lit. "Thick Bush") is one of the states of Brazil, the third largest by area, located in the Central-West region. The state has 1.66% of the Brazilian population and is responsible for 1.9% of the Brazilian GDP. Neighboring ...

and northern Bolivia. Its typical habitat is the undergrowth and middle storey of seasonally-flooded forest, swamps and the vicinity of rivers. It typically forages for spiders, caterpillars and other small invertebrate prey in pairs or small groups. Its maximum altitude is around .

Conservation status

The Amazonian streaked antwren has a very wide range and is said to be fairly common in suitable habitat. The population trend is thought to be stable and the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has rated the bird's conservation status as being of "

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

Taxonomy

Description

Distribution and habitat

Conservation status

References

Further reading