Barred antshrike

Barred Antshrike
Conservation status
Least Concern
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Passeriformes Family: Thamnophilidae Genus: Thamnophilus Species: T. doliatus
Binomial name
Thamnophilus doliatus (Linnaeus, 1764)

The Barred Antshrike, Thamnophilus doliatus, is a passerine bird in the antbird family. It is a resident breeder in the tropical New World in Mexico, Central America, Trinidad and Tobago, and also South America east of the Andes down to northern Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay.

This is a common bird of thickets, mangroves and gardens, usually found as territorial pairs. The female lays two purple-marked creamy white eggs in a deep cup nest in a shrub, which are incubated by both sexes for 14 days to hatching. The chicks fledge in another 12-13 days.

The Barred Antshrike is typically 16.5 cm long, and weighs 25 g. It has a yellow iris. The male is barred all over with black and white, and has a white-based black crest that is raised in display. The female is rufous above with a chestnut crest. The sides of her head and neck are streaked with black, and the underparts are rich buff.

The Tobagoian race T. d. tobagensis is distinctive; males are whiter below, and females darker, than in the nominate subspecies.

Barred Antshrike is an insectivore which feeds on ants and other arthropods at or near the ground; it sometimes follows columns of army ants, and will take small lizards and berries. It is a skulking species, which may be located by its chuckling hu-hu-hu-hu-hu-hu song, often performed as a duet by a pair of birds, or a growled graaaaa.

References

• BirdLife International (2004). Thamnophilus doliatus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
• ffrench, Richard (1991). A Guide to the Birds of Trinidad and Tobago, 2nd edition, Comstock Publishing. ISBN 0-8014-9792-2. 
• Hilty, Steven L (2003). Birds of Venezuela. London: Christopher Helm. ISBN 0-7136-6418-5. 

External links

• images
• Barred Antshrike videos on the Internet Bird Collection

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