The rufous-backed stipplethroat (''Epinecrophylla haematonota''), also called the rufous-backed antwren or the stipple-throated antwren, is a species of bird in the family Thamnophilidae. It is found in southeastern Colombia and southern Venezuela to eastern Ecuador, northern and eastern Peru and western Brazil in its natural habitat of subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.

Taxonomy

The rufous-backed stipplethroat was described by the English zoologist Philip Sclater in 1857 and given the

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 ...

''Formicivora haematonota''. It was formerly placed in the genus ''

Myrmotherula ''Myrmotherula'' is a genus of insectivorous passerine birds in the antbird, antbird family, Thamnophilidae. These are all small antbirds, measuring . The genus was erected by the English zoologist Philip Sclater in 1858. The type species is the ...

''. In 2014, the species name was changed from the nominate subspecies of the rufous-backed stipplethroat when two other former subspecies were reclassified as the Negro stipple-throated antwren and Yasuni antwren, but vocalizations were found to be identical and morphological differences slight (Isler and Whitney 2018), so they were returned to subspecies status.

Description

The rufous-backed stipplethroat is about long. The male has mainly brown upper parts with a reddish-brown back and rump, and black wing coverts with white speckling and two white bars. The male's throat is black spotted with white, and the sides of the head, the breast and belly are grey. The female is similar to the male but the wing coverts are tipped with buff and the sides of the face and the throat are ochre, the throat sometimes being tinged with red. In both sexes, the colour of the iris is variable and can be orange, dark or whitish, and the tail is brown which distinguishes this species from the

rufous-tailed stipplethroat The rufous-tailed stipplethroat (''Epinecrophylla erythrura''), formerly called the rufous-tailed antwren, is a species of insectivorous bird in subfamily Thamnophilinae of family Thamnophilidae, the "typical antbirds". It is found in Brazil, C ...

(''Epinecrophylla erythrura''). The song is a trill of short, staccato notes, first rising in pitch and then descending.

Ecology

The species is often seen in small mixed flocks of passerine birds moving through the forest and foraging in the lower parts of the canopy. The diet consists mainly of insects and spiders, particularly crickets, and is found on shoots and leaves, with the bird often probing into curled, dead foliage.

Conservation status

''Epinecrophylla haematonota'' is a fairly common bird with a wide range. No particular threats are known, and in the absence of contrary information, the population is presumed to be stable and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated the conservation status of this bird as being of " least concern".

References

General references

* Isler, M., D. Lacerda, P. Isler, S. Hackett, K. Rosenberg, and R. Brumfield (2006). ''Epinecrophylla, a new genus of antwrens (Aves: Passeriformes: Thamnophilidae).'' Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 119(4): 522-527 {{Taxonbar, from=Q1263152

rufous-backed stipplethroat The rufous-backed stipplethroat (''Epinecrophylla haematonota''), also called the rufous-backed antwren or the stipple-throated antwren, is a species of bird in the family Thamnophilidae. It is found in southeastern Colombia and southern Venezuel ...

Birds of the Amazon Basin Birds of the Colombian Amazon Birds of the Peruvian Amazon Birds of the Venezuelan Amazon

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot