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Grey-headed Antbird | Ampelornis griseiceps
Grijskopmiervogel | Hormiguero cabecigrís | Formigueiro-de-cabeça-cinza
The Grey-headed Antbird is a small antbird of the Tumbesian region, restricted to south-western Ecuador and north-western Peru. It lives in the understorey of montane forest, often with bamboo, at the transition to dry deciduous forest. The species has a small and fragmented range.
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Voice
The song is a short, rapid, descending series of churring notes. The call is a harsh, whining rheer-rhurr.
Recording: Paul Coopmans — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto
Identification
13 cm. The male has a grey head, nape and mantle, olive-brown upperparts with a white interscapular patch and black wing coverts with broad white tips. The centre of the lower throat and breast is black, the sides of the breast and the belly are grey, and the flanks and undertail coverts are olive-brown. The female has a paler grey head, a white throat and breast streaked grey or olive-grey and a whiter belly. Immature males resemble females.
Confusion species
Slaty Antwren Myrmotherula schisticolor is smaller and shorter-tailed; the male is uniform slate-grey with a black throat and breast, without an olive-brown back. Plain Antvireo Dysithamnus mentalis is stockier, with a thicker bill and a dark cheek patch, and lacks the black throat and breast. Chapman's Antshrike Thamnophilus zarumae is larger, with a heavy hooked bill.
Habitat
Understorey of evergreen montane forest and the transition to deciduous forest, often with bamboo, but not restricted to it; in Ecuador between about 600 and 2500 m, in Peru between 700 and 2900 m. It forages alone, in pairs or in family groups, usually 2–7 m above the ground, gleaning insects from leaves, stems and vines; it sometimes joins mixed flocks. Little is known about the nest; the breeding season appears to run from January to May.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of the Andes and the west coast.
Range and movements
Ecuador: in the south-west, in El Oro and Loja. Peru: in the north-west, including Piura, Lambayeque and Cajamarca. Absent from Colombia, Bolivia and the Galápagos. Endemic to the guide area.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
In Loja, for example in the Utuana reserve, search the understorey and mid-storey of montane forest with bamboo; the birds sometimes join mixed flocks and give themselves away by their churring song.
Conservation status
Near Threatened; formerly considered Vulnerable. The population is estimated at 2500–10,000 mature individuals and is declining through the loss of forest to farming and grazing; the species is known from only a few protected areas.
Scientific name
Ampelornis griseiceps | (Chapman, 1923) (GBIF: Myrmeciza griseiceps)
Chapman described the species in 1923 as Myrmoderus griseiceps; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Ampelornis was introduced in 2013 by Isler, Bravo & Brumfield. The genus name combines Greek ampelos, 'vine', and ornis, 'bird'. The species name griseiceps combines Latin griseus, 'grey', and -ceps, '-headed': 'grey-headed'. The specimen the first description was based on came from Palambla, Piura, Peru.