Goeldi's antbird (''Akletos goeldii'') is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

in subfamily Thamnophilinae of family

Thamnophilidae The antbirds are a large passerine bird family, Thamnophilidae, found across subtropical and tropical Central and South America, from Mexico to Argentina. There are more than 230 species, known variously as antshrikes, antwrens, antvireos, fire ...

, the "typical antbirds". It is found in

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

and

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, G. Del-Rio, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 27 July 2024. Species Lists of Birds for South American Countries and Territories. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCCountryLists.htm retrieved July 28, 2024

Taxonomy and systematics

Goeldi's antbird was described in 1908 as ''Myrmelastes goeldii''. It was later placed in genus '' Percnostola'' and later still in genus '' Myrmeciza''. A

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

study published in 2013 found that ''Myrmeciza'', as then defined, was

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage that includes organisms with mixed evolutionary origin but does not include their most recent common ancestor. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as Homoplasy, homoplasies ...

. In the resulting rearrangement to create

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

genera, this species was moved to a newly created genus ''Inundicola''. A year later the same authors determined that by the

principle of priority Priority is a principle in Taxonomy (biology), biological taxonomy by which a valid scientific name is established based on the oldest available name. It is a decisive rule in Botanical nomenclature, botanical and zoological nomenclature to recogn ...

the older genus ''

Akletos ''Akletos'' is a genus of passerine birds in the family Thamnophilidae. The genus contains two species: * White-shouldered antbird (''Akletos melanoceps'') * Goeldi's antbird (''Akletos goeldii'') The two species were formerly placed in the ge ...

'', which had been introduced by the Polish ornithologist Andrzej Dunajewski in 1948, was proper. Goeldi's antbird shares genus ''Akletos'' with the

white-shouldered antbird The white-shouldered antbird (''Akletos melanoceps'') is a species of bird in subfamily Thamnophilinae of family Thamnophilidae, the "typical antbirds". It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bo ...

(''A. melanoceps''). It is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

Description

Goeldi's antbird is long and weighs about . Both sexes have a ring of bare bluish gray skin around their eye, though the female's is paler, and a red iris. Adult males are mostly black with a usually concealed white patch between their

scapulars The scapula (: scapulae or scapulas), also known as the shoulder blade, is the bone that connects the humerus (upper arm bone) with the clavicle (collar bone). Like their connected bones, the scapulae are paired, with each scapula on either side ...

. Adult females have a blackish gray forecrown, lores, and face. Their crown, upperparts, and wings are rufous-brown and their tail dark reddish brown. Their throat is white. Their underparts are mostly light cinnamon with tawny flanks and crissum.Zimmer, K. and M.L. Isler (2020). Goeldi's Antbird (''Akletos goeldii''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.goeant1.01 retrieved August 19, 2024Schulenberg, T.S., D.F. Stotz, D.F. Lane, J.P. O’Neill, and T.A. Parker III. 2010. ''Birds of Peru''. Revised and updated edition. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey. Plate 172

Distribution and habitat

Goeldi's antbird is a bird of the western

Amazon Basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributary, tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries ...

. It is found in southeastern Peru, northwestern Bolivia, and the western Brazilian states of

Acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

and Amazonas. It primarily inhabits the floor and understorey of '' várzea''

evergreen forest An evergreen forest is a forest made up of evergreen trees. They occur across a wide range of climatic zones, and include trees such as conifers and holly in cold climates, eucalyptus, live oak, acacias, magnolia, and banksia in more temperate zo ...

but also

transitional forest Forest transition refers to a geographic theory describing a reversal or turnaround in land-use trends for a given territory from a period of net forest area loss (i.e., deforestation) to a period of net forest area gain. The term "landscape tur ...

, bamboo thickets, and

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has regenerated through largely natural processes after human-caused Disturbance (ecology), disturbances, such as Logging, timber harvest or agriculture clearing, or ...

. It favors the shrubby vine-tangled areas immediately adjoining rivers and stands of ''

Guadua ''Guadua'' is a Neotropical genus of thorny, clumping bamboo in the grass family, ranging from moderate to very large species. Physically, '' Guadua angustifolia'' is noted for being the largest Neotropical bamboo. The genus is similar to ''Bam ...

'' bamboo on the river floodplain and on shelves above it. In elevation it mostly occurs below but reaches locally in Peru.

Behavior

Movement

Goeldi's antbird is believed to be a year-round resident throughout its range.

Feeding

Goeldi's antbird feeds on insects and probably other

arthropod Arthropods ( ) are invertebrates in the phylum Arthropoda. They possess an arthropod exoskeleton, exoskeleton with a cuticle made of chitin, often Mineralization (biology), mineralised with calcium carbonate, a body with differentiated (Metam ...

s. It typically forages singly, in pairs, or in family groups in dense vegetation, mostly on the ground and within about above it. It hops between short feeding stops, pumping its tail. It captures prey by gleaning, reaching, or pouncing to the ground from a perch. It occasionally, and perhaps regularly, follows

army ant The name army ant (or legionary ant or ''marabunta'') is applied to over 200 ant species in different lineages. Because of their aggressive predatory foraging groups, known as "raids", a huge number of ants forage simultaneously over a limited ...

swarms to capture prey fleeing the ants and only occasionally joins

mixed-species feeding flock A mixed-species feeding flock, also termed a mixed-species foraging flock, mixed hunting party or informally bird wave, is a flock of usually insectivorous birds of different species that join each other and move together while foraging. These ar ...

Breeding

The breeding season of Goeldi's antbird has not been detailed but spans from August to November in Peru and perhaps includes December in Brazil. Its nest is a cup made of dry leaves and twigs on or near the ground. Its clutch is one or two eggs that are white with reddish brown blotches. Both parents incubate the clutch. The incubation period, time to fledging, and other details of parental care are not known.

Vocalization

The song of Goeldi's antbird is "a series...beginning with 3 soft, rapidly delivered notes, first longer than second but shorter than third, followed by evenly paced series of downslurred whistles, notes shorter than intervals". One author writes it as "''her-her hEEr hEEr hEEr hEEr''". Its call is "a slow, electric chatter ''cher'che'che'che'che'che''".

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

has assessed Goeldi's antbird as being of Least Concern. It has a large range; its population size is not known and is believed to be stable. No immediate threats have been identified. It is considered fairly common across its range. Its range includes several large protected areas "as well as extensive intact habitat which is not formally protected but appears at little risk of development in near future".

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q552101 Goeldi's antbird Birds of Peruvian Amazonia Birds of the Bolivian Amazon Birds of Southern Amazonia Goeldi's antbird Goeldi's antbird Taxonomy articles created by Polbot