Typical antbirds | Thamnophilidae

Mierklauwieren | Hormigueros típicos

Antbirds are songbirds of tropical America that in the region occur only on Trinidad and Tobago, with eight species. They live in thickets and the lower and middle layers of forest, forest edge and mangrove. Build ranges from small, slender antwrens to robust antshrikes with a heavy bill hooked at the tip, such as Great Antshrike. In many species the sexes differ clearly: the male is black, grey or barred black and white, as in Barred Antshrike, the female brown or rufous. The birds search for insects and other invertebrates among leaves and twigs and in the leaf litter; some species follow swarming ants to catch flushed insects. The song consists of simple, often accelerating series of whistles or rattles, which are fixed for each species and form the main character in dense foliage. The nest is usually an open cup slung in a horizontal fork; both parents incubate and feed the young. Identification is by sound, bill shape and the colour pattern of both sexes.