The striated antbird (''Drymophila devillei'') is a species of bird 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, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.

Taxonomy and systematics

The striated antbird has two

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 ...

, the

nominate Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to a public office, or the bestowing of an honor or award. A collection of nominees narrowed from the full list of candidates is a short list. Political office In the ...

''D. d. devillei'' ( Ménégaux &

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 ...

, 1906) and ''D. d. subochracea'' ( Chapman, 1921). Some authors have suggested that the subspecies deserve to be treated as full species.Schulenberg, T. S. and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Striated Antbird (''Drymophila devillei''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.strant2.01 retrieved 19 June 2024 Subspecies ''D. d. subochracea'' has sometimes been called the "Xingu antbird", which can cause it to be confused with the Xingu scale-backed antbird (''Willisornis vidua''). The striated antbird and the East Andean antbird are

sister species In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and t ...

.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 4 March 2024. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved 5 March 2024

Description

The striated antbird is long and weighs . Adult males of the nominate subspecies have a black crown and back with thin white streaks and a large white patch between the

scapulars The scapula (plural 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 ...

. Their rump is orangish buff. Their flight feathers are slate gray with cinnamon edges and their wing

coverts A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which, as the name implies, cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts The ear coverts are sm ...

black with white tips. Their tail is black with wide white tips to the feathers and large white spots on the innermost pair. Their face, throat, and underparts are white with bold black streaks on the face, sides of the neck, and breast. Females have the same pattern but different colors than males. Their upperparts have buff rather than white streaks; their underparts are pale buff with thin black streaks on the breast. Juveniles have olive-gray upperparts and buff-tinged underparts with an olive-gray band on the breast. Subadult males resemble adult females. Both sexes of subspecies ''D. d. subochracea'' have ochraceous buff underparts that are darker on the breast and flanks. Females have darker ochraceous streaks on their upperparts than the nominate. Adults of both sexes of both subspecies have a brown iris, a black

maxilla The maxilla (plural: ''maxillae'' ) in vertebrates is the upper fixed (not fixed in Neopterygii) bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. In humans, the upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. The t ...

, a gray to blue-gray

mandible In anatomy, the mandible, lower jaw or jawbone is the largest, strongest and lowest bone in the human facial skeleton. It forms the lower jaw and holds the lower tooth, teeth in place. The mandible sits beneath the maxilla. It is the only movabl ...

, and blue-gray legs and feet.Schulenberg, 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 168.

Distribution and habitat

The nominate subspecies of the striated antbird has a

disjunct distribution In biology, a taxon with a disjunct distribution is one that has two or more groups that are related but considerably separated from each other geographically. The causes are varied and might demonstrate either the expansion or contraction of a s ...

. It occurs locally within a thin band from

Meta Department Meta () is a departments of Colombia, department of Colombia. It is close to the geographic center of the country, to the east of the Andean mountains. A large portion of the department, which is also crossed by the Meta River, is covered by a ...

in southeastern Colombia into northern Ecuador's

Napo Province Napo () is a province in Ecuador. Its capital is Tena. The province contains the Napo River. The province is low developed without much industrial presence. The thick rainforest is home to many natives that remain isolated by preference, descendan ...

. It separately occurs in a larger area from southeastern Peru south into Bolivia as far as

Cochabamba Department Cochabamba ( ay, Quchapampa Jach'a Suyu, es, Departamento de Cochabamba , qu, Quchapampa Suyu), from Quechua ''qucha'' or ''qhucha'', meaning "lake", ''pampa'' meaning "plain", is one of the nine departments of Bolivia. It is known to be the ...

and east into Brazil to the

Rio Madeira The Madeira River ( pt, Rio Madeira, link=no ) is a major waterway in South America. It is estimated to be in length, while the Madeira-Mamoré is estimated near or in length depending on the measuring party and their methods. The Madeira is ...

. Subspecies ''D. d. subochracea'' is found in Brazil south of the Amazon and east of the rios Madeira and Mamoré south into northeastern Bolivia's

Santa Cruz Department Santa Cruz () is the largest of the nine constituent departments of Bolivia, occupying about one-third (33.74%) of the country's territory. With an area of , it is slightly smaller than Japan or the US state of Montana. It is located in the e ...

. The species inhabits the understorey of humid

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 zone ...

where it is almost entirely found in 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. In elevation it reaches in Brazil and in Peru. In Ecuador it occurs between and in Colombia between .

Behavior

Movement

The striated antbird is believed to be a year-round resident throughout its range.

Feeding

The striated antbird's diet is not known in detail; it feeds primarily on insects (with a possible preference for caterpillars) and probably also on spiders. It typically forages in pairs or in family groups, feeding in the crowns of bamboo thickets usually up to about above the ground though sometimes as high as . It much of its range it regularly 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 ...

s that pass through its territory. However, it is not known to do so in Colombia and data from Ecuador are lacking.

Breeding

Except for a sighting of a female entering a dome-shaped nest in bamboo, the striated antbird's breeding biology is unknown.

Vocalization

The striated antbird's song is "2-parted, first several harsh, buzzing notes followed by an accelerating series of peeping whistles: ''chewDJZZ-DJAA-DJAA tew-tew-ti-ti-titutututututu''". Its call is "a paired series of descending mewing whistles: ''pew-pew''".

Status

The

IUCN 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 assessed the striated antbird as being of Least Concern. It has a very large range; its population size is not known and is believed to be decreasing. No immediate threats have been identified. It is considered rare in Colombia and Ecuador and locally fairly common in Peru. "Human activity has little direct effect on the Striated Antbird, other than the local effects of habitat destruction."