All species › Passerines › Antbirds › Rio Suno Antwren
Rio Suno Antwren | Myrmotherula sunensis
Riosunomiersluiper | Hormiguerito del Suno | Choquinha-do-oeste
The Rio Suno Antwren is a small, short-tailed antwren of the lowlands and foothills at the base of the Andes. It is scarce and local throughout its range. The name refers to the Río Suno in eastern Ecuador, where the species was first collected.
No photograph of a living wild bird of this species with a suitable Creative Commons licence exists. Do you have one that meets the rules? Send it in.
Voice
The song is a clear, melodious series, roughly wi-weedy-weedy-weedy. The call is a thin, rising whistle, often doubled.
Recording: Mitch Lysinger — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto
Identification
9 cm, small, with a short tail. The male is grey, with a black throat and upper breast, darker wings with white tips to the coverts and a concealed white patch between the shoulders. The female is olive-brown above and dull buff with a rufous tinge below, with olive-brown flanks. Females from east-central Peru are greyer above and less rufous below.
Confusion species
Slaty Antwren Myrmotherula schisticolor is slightly larger and longer-tailed and lives higher, on the Andean slopes. Long-winged Antwren Myrmotherula longipennis and Grey Antwren Myrmotherula menetriesii are longer-winged and often forage higher in the forest; the female Grey Antwren is grey above. The male White-flanked Antwren Myrmotherula axillaris has white flank plumes. Song and female plumage are the most reliable features.
Habitat
Understorey to middle storey of evergreen rainforest and mature secondary forest in the lowlands and foothills, mostly between 200 and 500 m, locally to about 900 m. It favours dense, vine-tangled spots, often with much Heliconia; in Colombia and Ecuador mainly in terra firme forest. Pairs glean insects from leaves, sometimes with mixed flocks.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of the Andes and the west coast.
Range and movements
Colombia: very local at the base of the eastern slope, in Meta and from Putumayo southwards. Ecuador: local in the eastern lowlands and foothills. Peru: scattered and local, mainly in the east-centre. Absent from Bolivia and the Galápagos. Outside the guide area in south-western Brazilian Amazonia.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
In lowland and foothill forest in eastern Ecuador, listen for the clear song in dense growth with vines and Heliconia in the understorey. The species is usually found first by ear.
Conservation status
Least Concern. The population size is unknown and probably declining through forest loss; the species occurs in some protected areas, but its distribution is still incompletely known.
Scientific name
Myrmotherula sunensis | Chapman, 1925
Chapman described the species in 1925 and placed it straight away in the genus where it still stands. The genus Myrmotherula was introduced in 1858 by Sclater. The genus name is a diminutive of Myrmothera (Greek murmos, 'ant', and thēras, 'hunter'): little ant-hunter. The species name refers to the Río Suno in eastern Ecuador. The specimen the first description was based on came from Río Suno, eastern Ecuador.