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Rufous-breasted Antthrush | Formicarius rufipectus
Roodborstmierlijster | Formicario pechirrufo | Pinto-do-mato-de-peito-ruivo
The Rufous-breasted Antthrush is the antthrush of montane forest, the only one of its genus that lives mainly in the Andes. It is the largest and heaviest antthrush in the guide area. Its short, two-note whistle is the most characteristic sign of its presence in dense undergrowth.
Voice
A short, two-note whistle, hoo-hoo, the second note on the same pitch as the first or slightly higher, repeated at intervals of a few seconds. The call is a sharp chuk.
Recording: Sidnei Dantas — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto
Identification
19 cm, dumpy, with a short, cocked tail and long legs. Crown dark rufous-brown to blackish, face and throat black. Breast bright rufous to chestnut, grading into an olive-brown belly; the undertail coverts rufous. Upperparts dark olive-brown. The sexes are alike. Juveniles are duller, with less rufous on the breast.
Confusion species
Black-headed Antthrush Formicarius nigricapillus has a black breast and lives lower, in the foothills west of the Andes. Black-faced Antthrush Formicarius analis has a grey breast and lives in the lowlands. Barred Antthrush Chamaeza mollissima and Short-tailed Antthrush Chamaeza campanisona have pale, patterned underparts without a rufous breast.
Habitat
The floor of humid montane forest with dense undergrowth, also ravines with bamboo and shrubs and older secondary forest, roughly between 800 and 2200 m. It walks on the ground, searching among the leaves for insects and other arthropods. The nest is in a cavity in a stump or tree.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of the Andes and the west coast.
Range and movements
Colombia: locally in all three Andean ranges, on both slopes. Ecuador: on both slopes of the Andes. Peru: along the eastern slope south to the centre of the country. Absent from Bolivia and the Galápagos. Outside the guide area in Costa Rica, Panama and the Andes of Venezuela.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
Listen in the early morning in cloud forest and montane forest for the short, two-note whistle. A bird often responds to a whistled imitation, but usually stays in dense undergrowth.
Conservation status
Least Concern. The species is locally distributed and disappears where montane forest is cleared; the lower parts of the mountain slopes in particular have been deforested.
Scientific name
Formicarius rufipectus | Salvin, 1866
Salvin described the species in 1866 and placed it straight away in the genus where it still stands. The genus Formicarius was introduced in 1783 by Boddaert. The genus name comes from Latin formicarius, 'of the ants', from formica, 'ant'. The species name comes from Latin rufus, 'rufous', and pectus, 'breast': 'rufous-breasted'. The specimen the first description was based on came from Santiago de Veraguas, Panama.