Rufous-throated antbird

Gymnopithys rufigula

Photo by Thierry Nogaro (Oiseaux)

Common name:
rufous-throated antbird (en); mãe-de-taoca-de-garganta-vermelha (pt); fourmilier à gorge rousse (fr); hormiguero gorgirrufo (es); rostkehl-ameisenvogel (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Thamnophilidae

Range:
This species is found in northern South America, in southern and south-eastern Venezuela, marginally into eastern Colombia, and in the Guyanas and northern Brazil, north of the Amazon river.

Size:
These birds are 15 cm long and weigh 25-30 g.

Habitat:
The rufous-throated antbirds is found in the understory of lowland tropical rainforests, from sea level up to an altitude of 600 m.

Diet:
They often follow army ant swarms, hunting insects, spiders and other small invertebrates flushed by the ants.

Breeding:
Rufous-throated antbirds nest in a cup made of dead leaves and other plant materials, placed near the ground on a tree cavity or dead stump. There the female lays 2 eggs which are incubated by both parents. The is no information regarding the length of the incubation period. The chicks are raised by both parents and fledge around 13 days after hatching. They will continue to be brooded by the parents for 1 week after fledging.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a very large breeding range and is described as fairly common. The rufous-throated antbird is suspected to loose 10% of their habitat in the next 15 years, based on current models of Amazonian deforestation, but is not currently threatened.