The ocellated antbird (''Phaenostictus mcleannani'') is a species of

antbird The antbirds are a large passerine bird family (biology), family, Thamnophilidae, found across subtropical and tropical Central and South America, from Mexico to Argentina. There are List of antbirds, more than 230 species, known variously as an ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

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 ...

. 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 "unispec ...

within the genus ''Phaenostictus'' and is found in southern Central America and the northwestern part of South America. 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 ...

is the understory of

tropical moist lowland forest Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Description TSMF is generally found in large, discont ...

, foothill forest, and tall secondary growth woodlands. The species is 19 cm long and weighs around 50 g. The eye is surrounded by a large area of bare blue coloured skin. The

plumage Plumage ( "feather") is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, ...

varies slightly amongst the three

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

, but overall it has a grey crown, black throat with a buff breast changing into a spotted belly and back. The bird feeds primarily on insects, arthropods, and sometimes on small

lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...

s. Most of its prey is obtained from trails of

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 limit ...

s, which flush the prey from hiding places. One such army ant species is ''

Eciton burchellii ''Eciton burchellii'' is a species of New World army ant in the genus ''Eciton''. This species performs expansive, organized swarm raids that give it the informal name, ''Eciton'' army ant. This species displays a high degree of worker polymorph ...

''. The ocellated antbird is considered an obligate follower of army ants, seldom foraging away from swarms. Amongst the species of

s and other army ant followers (such as

tanager The tanagers (singular ) comprise the bird family Thraupidae, in the order Passeriformes. The family has a Neotropical distribution and is the second-largest family of birds. It represents about 4% of all avian species and 12% of the Neotropica ...

s and

woodcreeper The woodcreepers (Dendrocolaptinae) comprise a subfamily of suboscine passerine birds endemic to the Neotropics. They have traditionally been considered a distinct family Dendrocolaptidae, but most authorities now place them as a subfamily of the ...

s) it is usually a dominant species. The social biology of this species is unusual for the antbird family. The breeding pair form the nucleus of a group or clan that includes their male offspring and their mates. These clans work together to defend territories against rivals. The open nest cup was only recently described, with a clutch of two eggs.

Taxonomy

The ocellated antbird was formally described in 1861 by the American amateur ornithologist

George Newbold Lawrence George Newbold Lawrence (October 20, 1806 – January 17, 1895) was an American businessman and amateur ornithologist. Early life Lawrence was born in the city of New York on October 20, 1806. From his youth, Lawrence was a lover of birds and s ...

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 ...

''Phlogopsis mcleannani'' (misspelled as Meleannani). The

specific epithet 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 ...

honours James McLeannan, a railway engineer on the

Panama Canal Railway The Panama Canal Railway ( es, Ferrocarril de Panamá) is a railway line linking the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean in Central America. The route stretches across the Isthmus of Panama from Colón (Atlantic) to Balboa (Pacific, near P ...

, who had collected the specimen in Panama. The ocellated antbird is now placed in the genus ''Phaenostictus'' that was erected in 1909 by the American ornithologist

Robert Ridgway Robert Ridgway (July 2, 1850 – March 25, 1929) was an American ornithologist specializing in systematics. He was appointed in 1880 by Spencer Fullerton Baird, secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, to be the first full-time curator of bird ...

. The genus name is derived from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

''phainō'' meaning "to display" and ''stiktos'' for "spotted". Ridgway considered that the species was related to the genus ''

Phlegopsis ''Phlegopsis'' is a genus of insectivorous passerine birds in the antbird family, Thamnophilidae. They are known as "bare-eyes", which is a reference to a colourful bare patch of skin around their eyes. They are restricted to humid forest in th ...

'' (the bare-eyes) but that it differed in having a longer tail, rounded nostrils and a few other characters. Molecular phylogenetic studies of the

family,

, have found that the ocellated antbird sits in the tribe Pithyini and its closest relatives are found in the genus '' Pithys''. Three subspecies have been described: *''P. m. saturatus'' (

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

, 1896) *''P. m. mcleannani'' (Lawrence, 1861) *''P. m. pacificus''

Hellmayr Carl Eduard Hellmayr (29 January 1878 in Vienna, Austria – 24 February 1944 in Orselina, Switzerland) was an Austrian ornithologist. Biography Hellmayr was born in Vienna and studied at the University of Vienna, although he did not complete hi ...

, 1924

Description

The ocellated antbird is a medium-sized antbird, measuring and weighing . Females tend to be slightly smaller than males and weigh slightly less. The

and bare parts of the male and female are the same. The eye is surrounded by a large bare blue patch of skin. The head and throat is black with a grey and a rufous . The upperparts and are olive brown with black spots. The rest of the feathers of the wing are black edged with olive. The breast is rufous and belly is olive brown, both have large black spots. The bill is large and black. Juvenile birds have a darker crown, the rufous areas are brighter and the spots are reduced or absent. The species conforms with

Bergmann's rule Bergmann's rule is an ecogeographical rule that states that within a broadly distributed taxonomic clade, populations and species of larger size are found in colder environments, while populations and species of smaller size are found in warmer ...

, with birds closer to the Equator having smaller wings and bills than those further away.

Distribution and habitat

The ocellated antbird ranges from Honduras to Ecuador. The race ''saturatus'' is found from northern and eastern Honduras through eastern Nicaragua, eastern and northern Costa Rica into the west of Panama. The nominate race is found in the rest of Panama and the Pacific slope as the Andean slope of western Colombia. The race ''pacificus'' is found in the extreme south of coastal Colombia and northwestern Ecuador. The ocellated antbird is a rainforest bird, being found in lowland and hill primary rainforest, as well as

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. ...

. Within this habitat it occupies the

understory In forestry and ecology, understory (American English), or understorey (Commonwealth English), also known as underbrush or undergrowth, includes plant life growing beneath the forest canopy without penetrating it to any great extent, but abov ...

of the forest, feeding and living close to the forest floor. It is found from sea-level up to in Costa Rica, but only up as high as in Panama and Colombia and in Ecuador; it is more commonly found below in the later country. They seldom enter or cross open areas, unless the ants that they are following do so.

References

Cited text

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1082851 ocellated antbird Birds of Honduras Birds of Nicaragua Birds of Costa Rica Birds of Panama Birds of the Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena ocellated antbird Taxonomy articles created by Polbot