BIRDS of THE WORLD - An Online Bird Book
Order Passeriformes Family Thamnophilidae
ANTBIRDS - Antshrikes
Order Passeriformes Family Thamnophilidae
The Antbirds of family Thamnophilidae occur in tropical and subtropical Central and South America. There are more than 200 species, known variously as antwrens, antbirds and antshrikes (here ordered by size with antwrens the smallest and antshrikes the largest). Other miscellaneous names for some of the species in the Thamnophilidae family are: antvireos, bare-eyes, bushbird, fire-eyes. Collective, members of the Thamnophilidae family are known as antbirds. They not closely related to the wrens, vireos or shrikes.
Most species live in forests and most feed in the understory and midstory of the forest, although a few feed in the canopy and a few on the ground. They feed on ants and other insects. They use a number of techniques to obtain prey. The majority of antbirds are arboreal, with most of those feeding in the understory, many in the middle story and some in the canopy. A few species feed in the leaf litter; The antbirds that forage arboreally show a number of techniques and specialisations. Some species perch-glean, perching on a branch watching for prey and snatching it by reaching forward, where others sally from a perch and snatch prey on the wing.
Thamnophilidae are related to antpittas of family Grallariidae and the antthrushes of family Formicariidae.
Genus Batara - 1 species
Antshrike,_Giant Batara cinerea Found: northeast Argentina, southern Bolivia also southern Brazil
The largest antshrike.
Image by: 1) Joao_Quental - Brazil 2) Nick Athanas - Brazil 3) Hector Bottai - Brazil 4) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Glenn_Bartley.jpg){kind=link}
1) Female 2, 3, 4) Male
Genus Biatas - 1 species
Antshrike,_White-bearded Biatas nigropectus Found: Atlantic forest of Argentina, Brazil
The White-bearded Antshrike has mainly rufous plumage; white cheek, throat. Male has black cap, upper-breast.
Image by: 1) Arthur_Grosset 2) Nick Athanas 3) Claudio_Timm
Genus Cymbilaimus
Antshrike,_Bamboo Cymbilaimus sanctaemariae Found: lowland/bamboo forests of Bolivia, Brazil, Peru
Similar to: Fasciated Antshrike. Male Bamboo Antshrike paler than Fasciated Antshrike. Female Bamboo Antshrike has unbarred underparts; male Fasciated Antshrike has barred underparts. Their voices are different.
Image by: 1) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Joe_Tobias in Peru 2) joel_rosenthal Tony_Castro - Peru
1) Female 2) Male
Antshrike,_Fasciated Cymbilaimus lineatus Found: Central America, northern South America
The male Fasciated Antshrike has mainly black-and-white striped plumage; black crown; red eyes. Female is barred dark brown and yellowish-brown; russet crown; red eyes.
Similar to: Bamboo Antshrike. Male Bamboo Antshrike paler than Fasciated Antshrike. Female Bamboo Antshrike has unbarred underparts; male Fasciated Antshrike has barred underparts. Their voices are different.
Image by: 1, 3) Nick Athanas- Costa Rica 2) Brian_Gratwicke - Panama 4) Francesco_Veronesi - PanamaSimilar to: Bamboo Antshrike. Male Bamboo Antshrike paler than Fasciated Antshrike. Female Bamboo Antshrike has unbarred underparts; male Fasciated Antshrike has barred underparts. Their voices are different.
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Genus Frederickena
Antshrike,_Black-throated Frederickena viridis Found: Guiana region including northeast Brazil and southeast Venezuela
The male Black-throated Antshrike has slate-gray plumage; black throat; red-eyes. Female has rufous-brown upperparts; densely barred underparts including tail; red eyes.
Image by: 1) Philip_Stouffer - Brazil 2) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Philip_Stouffer, Kurazo_Okada in Brazil1) Female 2) Male
Antshrike,_Fulvous Frederickena fulva Found: eastern Ecuador, southeastern Colombia, nort-eastern Peru
The male Fulvous Antshrike has blackish plumage with grayish-white barring throuhout. Female has mainly cinnamon plumage with dark barring. Previously subspecies of Undulated Antshrike; they differ vocally.
Image by: 1, 2) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Harold Greeneyin Ecuador
Antshrike,_Undulated Frederickena unduliger Found: northwest Brazil, southeast Peru.
The male Undulated Antshrike has blackish plumage with grayish-white barring throuhout. Female has rusty-brown plumage with black barring.
Image by: 1) Andre_Grassi - Brazil
Genus Hypoedaleus - 1 species
Antshrike,_Spot-backed Hypoedaleus guttatus Found: southeastern Argentina, southern Brazil, northeastern Paraguay
The Spot-backed Antshirke has black upperparts with heavy white barring and spotting; white underparts with variable amount of buffy-orange on the flanks and undertail coverts.
Image by: 1, 2) Dario Sanches 3) Nick Athanas - Brazil
Genus Mackenziaena
Antshrike,_Large-tailed Mackenziaena leachii Found: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay
The male Large-tailed Antshrike has black plumage with small white spots on upperparts and flanks. Female black with buffy-golden tinge and white spots throughout.
Image by: 1) Ricardo_Gentil 2, 3) Nick Athanas - Brazil 4) Dario_Sanches
Antshrike,_Tufted Mackenziaena severa Found: northeast Argentina, southeast Brazil, eastern Paraguay
The male Tufted Antshrike has charcoal gray plumage. Female has mainly blackish plumage barred whitish and pale rufous; rufous crest.
Image by: 1) Nick Athanas 2) Paulo_Chaves - Brazil 3) Claudio_Timm 4) Dario_Sanches
1, 2) Female 3, 4) Male
Genus Pygiptila - 1 species
Antshrike,_Spot-winged Pygiptila stellaris Found: northern South America
The male Spot-winged Antshrike has mainly gray plumage; lighter underparts; white spots on wings; black cap. Female has gray upperparts; cinnamon wings; duller clay-colored face, underparts.
Image by: 1)) Nick Athanas 2) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Alexander_Lees1, 2) Male
Genus Sakesphorus
Antshrike, Black-crested Sakesphorus canadensis Found: northern South America
Image by: 1) Feroze_Omardeen - Trinidad 2, 3) Dominic Sherony 4) Joao_Quental - Brazil 5) Feroze_Omardeen
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1) Female 3, 4, 5) Male
Antshrike,_Glossy Sakesphorus luctuosus Found: Brazil
The Glossy Antshrike has mainly black plumage; white wing patch; white tips on tail. Male has black crown; female has chestnut-brown crown.
Image by: 1) Hector_Bottai 2) Nick Athanas 3) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Arthur Grosset
1) Female 2, 3) Male
Antshrike,_Silvery-cheeked Sakesphorus cristatus Found: Brazil
The male Silvery-cheeked Antshrike has a brown mantle; some black on wings with white spots; black crown, face, throat, breast median; pale gray rest of underparts, nape. Female has rufous-brown mantle, creast, tale; pale gray face underparts with rufous wash.
Image by: 1, 2) Nick Athanas 3) Joao_Quental
Genus Taraba - 1 species
Antshrike,_Great Taraba major Found: Mexico to middle South America
The male Great Antshrike has black upperparts, head, tail; 2 white wing-bars; white underparts. Female has rufous upperparts; white underparts. Both have red eyes.
Image by: 1) Nick Athanas - Brazil 2) Miguelrangeljr 3) Gustavo_Duran - Argentina 4) Claudio_Timm 5) Bertrando_Campos _(cropped).JPG){kind=link}
1, 2) Female 3 - 5) Male
Genus Thamnistes - 1 species
Antshrike,_Russet Thamnistes anabatinus Found: southern Mexico to northern Bolivia
The Russet Antshrike has olive-brown upperparts; cinnamon-rufous wings; pale yellowish underparts; dark eye-line.
Image by: 1) Nick Athanas 
Genus Thamnomanes
Antshrike,_Bluish-slate Thamnomanes schistogynus Found: Bolivia, Brazil, Peru
The male Bluish-slate Antshrike has dark bluish-gray plumage with (usually hidden) white shoulder patch. Female has mainly gray upperparts, head, throat; cinnamon-rufous underparts.
Image by: 1) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Kristian_Svensson, Joao_Quental 3) Dominic_Sherony - Peru .jpg){kind=link}
Antshrike,_Cinereous Thamnomanes caesius Found: northern South America
Image by: 1, 2) Nick Athanas
1) Female 2) Male
Antshrike,_Dusky-throated Thamnomanes ardesiacus Found: northern South America
The male Dusky-throated Antshrike has dark gray plumage; some have black throat patch. Female has dark brown plumage.
Similar to: Saturine Antshrike. Saturine Antshrike has white on shoulders; Dusky-throated Antshrike does not.
Image by: 1) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Gordon_Dimmig, Kester_Clarke 3) Nick Athanas - EcuadorSimilar to: Saturine Antshrike. Saturine Antshrike has white on shoulders; Dusky-throated Antshrike does not.
1) Female 2, 3) Male
Antshrike,_Saturnine Thamnomanes saturninus Found: Bolivia, Brazil, Peru
Similar to: Dusky-throated Antshrike. Saturine Antshrike has white on shoulders; Dusky-throated Antshrike does not.
Image by: 1)Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Gabriel_Leite
Genus Thamnophilus
The antshrikes feed on insects found on foliage in trees.
Antshrike,_Acre Thamnophilus divisorius Found: southwest Brazil; east central Peru
The male Acre Antshrike has very dark bluish-gray plumage; blacker over head, wings, tail. Females have blusih-gray upperparts; brownish-orange underparts.
Image by: 1, 2) Guillermo_Knell
Antshrike,_Amazonian Thamnophilus amazonicus Found: Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
The male Amazonian Antshrike has mainly gray plumage; black wings, tail; paler gray underparts. Female has dark olive upperparts; yellowish-brown head, underparts.
Image by: 1) Nick_Athanas - Ecuador 2) Claudio_Timm 4) Hector_Bottai - Brazil.JPG){kind=link}
Antshrike,_Band-tailed Thamnophilus melanothorax Found: tlantic regions of the Amazon Basin
The male Band-tailed Antshrike has mainly black plumage; white dots on shoulders; broad white band on tail tip. Female has mainly deep rufous plumage; black on forehead, throat, breast.
Image by: 1, 2) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Kurazo_Okada1) Female 2) Male
Antshrike,_Bar-creasted Thamnophilus multistriatus Found: Columbia, Venezuela
The male Bar-creasted Antshrike has barred black-and-white plumage. Female has orange upperparts, crown; rest barred balck-and-white.
Similar to: Barred Antshrike. Male Barred Antshrike has black crown; male crested=Antshrike has barred crown. Female Bar-creasted Antshrike has orange on upperparts while female Barred-Antshrike ahs rufous.
Image by: 1, 3, 4) Alejandro_Tamayo 2) Julian_Londono - Columbia Similar to: Barred Antshrike. Male Barred Antshrike has black crown; male crested=Antshrike has barred crown. Female Bar-creasted Antshrike has orange on upperparts while female Barred-Antshrike ahs rufous.
Antshrike, Barred Thamnophilus doliatus Found: South America
The male Barred Antshrike has barred black-and-white plumage; paler underparts; white based black crest. Female has rufous upperparts; chestnut crest; blacked-streaked side of head and neck; rich buff underparts.
Similar to: Barr-crested Antshrike. Male Barred Antshrike has black crown; male Bar-crested Antshrike has barred crown. Female Bar-creasted Antshrike has orange on upperparts while female Barred-Antshrike ahs rufous.
Similar to: Linned Antshrike. Male Lined Antshrike has darker underparts than male Barred Antshrike. Female Barred Antshrike has rufous underparts; female Lined Antshrike has barred underparts.
Image by: 1, 4) New Jersy Birds 2, 5, 6)
Dario Sanches 3, 7) Charlie Westerinen - near the Arenal volcano in Costa Rica.Similar to: Barr-crested Antshrike. Male Barred Antshrike has black crown; male Bar-crested Antshrike has barred crown. Female Bar-creasted Antshrike has orange on upperparts while female Barred-Antshrike ahs rufous.
Similar to: Linned Antshrike. Male Lined Antshrike has darker underparts than male Barred Antshrike. Female Barred Antshrike has rufous underparts; female Lined Antshrike has barred underparts.
1, 2, 3) Female 4 - 7) Male
Antshrike,_Black Thamnophilus nigriceps Found: Panama, Columbia
Image by: 1) Aaron_Maizlish - Panama 2, 3) Nick_Athanas - Panama
1, 2) Female 3) Male
Antshrike,_Black-backed Thamnophilus melanonotus Found: Columbia, Venezuela
The male Black-backed Antshrike has black upperparts with white on edges of flight feathers; black center of underparts; white rest of underparts. Female has brown upperparts; dark brown wings; rufous-brown tail; pale buff underparts.
Image by: 1) Nick_Athanas - Columbia 2) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Trevor_Ellery
Antshrike, Black-hooded Thamnophilus bridgesi Found: Costa Rica, Panama
The male Black-hooded Antshrike has mainly black plumage; three rows of white stripes on wings. Female has brown mantle, underparts.
Image by: 1) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Jean_Luc_Baron in Costa Rica 2) Jerry Oldenettel - Tarcoles River, Costa Rica 3) Sergey_Pisarevskiy - Costa Rica
Antshrike,_Blackish-gray Thamnophilus nigrocinereus Found: Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Venezuela
The male Blackish-gray Antshrike has black upperparts with white wing and tail markings; gray underparts. Female has brown upperparts; gray head, rufous underparts.
Image by: 1, 2) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Daniel_Uribe 2) Nick_Athanas 1) Female 2, 3) Male
Antshrike,_Bolivian_Slaty- Thamnophilus sticturus Found: Bolivia, southwest Brazil; northern Paraguay
Image by: 1, 2, 3) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Ian_Davies in Bolivia
Antshrike,_Castelnau's Thamnophilus cryptoleucus Found: Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
The male Castelnau's Antshrike has mainly black plumage; white fringing to wing coverts. Female has all black plumage.
Image by: 1) Nick_Athanas - Ecuador 2) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Anselmo_d'Affonseca in Brazil1, 2) Male
Antshrike,_Chapman's Thamnophilus zarumae Found: Ecuador, Peru
The male Chapman's Antshrike is the only barred antshrike found west of the Andes.
Image by: 1) Nick_Athanas - Peru 2) Pia_Oberg - Ecuador1) Female 2) Male
Antshrike,_Chestnut-backed Thamnophilus palliatus Found: Bolivia, Brazil, Peru
The Chestnut-backed Antshrike has chestnut upperparts; black underparts barred white. Male has black crown; female has chestnut crown.
Similar to: Lined Antshrike. Female Chestnut-backed Antshrike and Lined Antshrike virtually identical; differentiated via voice. Males easily differentiated by their backs.
Image by: 1, 2) Nick_Athanas - Brazil 3) Danilo_SchinkeSimilar to: Lined Antshrike. Female Chestnut-backed Antshrike and Lined Antshrike virtually identical; differentiated via voice. Males easily differentiated by their backs.
1) Female 2, 3) Male
Antshrike,_Cocha Thamnophilus praecox Found: Ecuador
The male Cocha Antshrike has glossy black plumage; female has glossy black head, nape, breast; rest chestnut-brown.
Image by: 1, 2) Nick_Athanas1) Female 2) Male
Antshrike,_Collared Thamnophilus bernardi Found: Ecuador, Peru
The male Collared Antshrike has brown back with some white; black head, throat, upper-breast; broad whitish collar that connects to whitish underparts. Female has deep buff collar, underparts.
Image by: 1, 3) Nick_Athanas - Ecuador 2) David_Cook - Peru 4) Jorge_Montejo
Antshrike,_Lined Thamnophilus tenuepunctatus Found: Columbia, Ecuador, Peru
The male Lined Antshrike has mainly black plumage barred white; black crown. Female has chestnut upperparts, crown.
Similar to: Barred Antshrike. Male Lined Antshrike has darker underparts than male Barred Antshrike. Female Barred Antshrike has rufous underparts; female Lined Antshrike has barred underparts.
Similar to: Chestnut-backed Antshrike. Female Chestnut-backed Antshrike and Lined Antshrike virtually identical; differentiated via voice. Males easily differentiated by their backs.
Image by: 1) Gary Clark - Ecuador 2) Francesco_Veronesi - Ecuador 3) Nick_Athanas - Ecuador 4) Andres_Cuervo - ColumbiaSimilar to: Barred Antshrike. Male Lined Antshrike has darker underparts than male Barred Antshrike. Female Barred Antshrike has rufous underparts; female Lined Antshrike has barred underparts.
Similar to: Chestnut-backed Antshrike. Female Chestnut-backed Antshrike and Lined Antshrike virtually identical; differentiated via voice. Males easily differentiated by their backs.
1, 2) Female 3, 4) male
Antshrike,_Mouse-colored Thamnophilus murinus Found: northern South America
Similar to: Plain-winged Antshrike. Plain-winged Antshrike has red eyes; Mouse-colored Antshrike has gray or dull eyes.
Image by: 1) Nick_Athanas 2) Philip_Stouffer Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Margi_Moss in Brazil
Antshrike,_Natterer's_Slaty- Thamnophilus stictocephalus Found: Bolivia, Brazil
Image by: 1) Nick_Athanas - Brazil 2) Claudio_Timm
Antshrike,_Northern_Slaty- Thamnophilus punctatus Found: northeast Brazil; Guianas, Venezuela
The male Northern Slaty-Antshrike has mainly gray plumage; black wings, tail; white spots on wings. Female mixture of brown and rufous with some white spots.
Image by: 1, 2, 3, 4) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Daniel_Lane, Daniel_Lane, Daniel_Lane, Anselmo_d'Affonseca1) Female T. p. huallagae 2) Female T. p. leucogaster 3) Male T. p. huallagae 4) Male T. p. punctatus
Antshrike,_Plain-winged Thamnophilus schistaceus Found: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru
The male Plain-winged Antshrike has mainly gray plumage; paler underparts; red eyes.
Similar to: Mouse-colored Antshrike. Plain-winged Antshrike has red eyes; Mouse-colored Antshrike has gray or dull eyes.
Image by: 1, 2) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Glenn_Bartley, Adrian_Eisen_Rupp 3) Hector_Bottai - Brazil Similar to: Mouse-colored Antshrike. Plain-winged Antshrike has red eyes; Mouse-colored Antshrike has gray or dull eyes.
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1) Female 2, 3) Male
Antshrike,_Planalto_Slaty- Thamnophilus pelzelni Found: Brazil
The Planalto Slaty-Antshrike and the Sooretama Slaty-Antshrike are both endemic to Brazil and they only differ subtly in plumage.
Image by: 1) Hector_Bottai 2) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Luiz_Carlos_Ramassotti 3) Nick_Athanas.JPG){kind=link}
1, 2) Female 3) Male
Antshrike,_Rufous-capped Thamnophilus ruficapillus Found: South America
The Rufous-capped Antshrike has rufous crown. Male has narrowly barred black and white breast; reddish-brown wings. Female has unbarred whitish or buff underparts
Image by: 1) Dario_Sanches 2) Claudio Timm 3) Nick_Athanas 4) Darren_Bellerby - Brazil
1, 2) Male
Antshrike,_Rufous-winged Thamnophilus torquatus Found: Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay
The male Rufous-winged Antshrike has gray mantle; gray head with black cap; rufous wings; pale gray breast with black barring; black tail with white spots. Female similar to male with rufous crown and tail; buffy underparts.
Image by: 1) Nick_Athanas 2) Claudio Timm 3) Hector_Bottai1, 2, 3) Male
Antshrike,_Sooretama_Slaty- Thamnophilus ambiguus Found: east coast Brazil
The Planalto Slaty-Antshrike and the Sooretama Slaty-Antshrike are both endemic to Brazil and they only differ subtly in plumage.
Image by: 1, 2) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Leonardo_Mercon, Jason_Leifester1) Female 2) Male
Antshrike,_Streak-backed Thamnophilus insignis Found: northern Brazil, western Guyana, southern Venezuela
The male Streak-backed Antshrike has black upperparts, wings, crown, tail; white spots on wings, crown, tail; some white streaks on back. Female similar with dark red-brown rear-crown.
Image by: 1) Joseph_Smit 2) Nick_Athanas
Antshrike,_Uniform Thamnophilus unicolor Found: Columbia, Ecuador, Peru
Image by: 1, 3) Nick_Athanas 2, 4) Jose_Loaiza - Ecuador
1, 2) Female 3, 4) Male
Antshrike,_Upland Thamnophilus aroyae Found: Bolivia, Peru
The male Upland Antshrike has mainly gray plumage; blackish crown, wings, tail; white spots of shoulders.. Female has mainly olive-brown plumage; paler and buffier underparts; rufous crown; grayish ear coverts.
Image by: 1) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Joe_Tobias1) Male
Antshrike,_Variable Thamnophilus caerulescens Found: South America
Image by: 1, 2) Cláudio Timm - Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil 3, 4, 5) Dario Sanches - Brazil
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1, 2, 3) Female 4, 5, 6) Male
Antshrike,_Western_Slaty- also Black-crowned Antshirke Thamnophilus atrinucha Found: Central and South America
The male Black-crowned Antshrike has mainly slate-gray plumage; black crown. Female has mainly brown plumage; chestnut crown. It is found in Belize and south in Central America, Columbia, Ecuador, Venezuela
Image by: 1) Sergey_Pisarevskiy - Costa Rica 2, 6) Nick_Athanas - Panama 3) Francesco Veronesi - Ecuador 4) Patty McGann - Panama 5) Dick Daniels - Soberania National Park, Panama
1, 2) Female 3, 4, 5, 6) Male
Antshrike,_White-shouldered Thamnophilus aethiops Found: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela
The White-shouldered Antshirke has small white dots on shoulders. Male has otherwise gray to black plumage. Female has otherwise rufous-brown plumage. There are many subspecies and some may become separate species.
Image by: 1, 3) Nick_Athanas 2, 4) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Markus_Lagerqvist in Brazil, Kurazo_Okada in Brazil 
Genus Xenornis - 1 species
Antshrike,_Spiny-faced also Speckled Antshrike Xenornis setifrons Found: Columbia, Panama
The male Spiny-faced Antshrike has brown upperparts; dark gray underparts. Female has mainly brown plumage. Both have streaking on head and mantle.
Image by: 1) Josh_Beck 2) Nick Athanas - Panama1) Female 2) Male
