Spot-tailed Antwren Herpsilochmus sticturus Scientific name definitions

The Spot-tailed Antwren, which forms a superspecies with the Dugand’s Antwren (Herpsilochmus dugandi) of western Amazonia, is one of three species of the genus Herpsilochmus that occur in extreme northeast South America, the others being Roraiman Antwren (Herpsilochmus roraimae) and the Todd’s Antwren (Herpsilochmus stictocephalus). The last-named and the present species are often found together in the canopy of lowland evergreen forests from southeast Venezuela, across the Guianas to far northeast Amazonian Brazil. In terms of their plumage, these two species are most easily separated in their female plumages, especially given that the white spots in the black tail of male Herpsilochmus sticturus are not always easily seen. The Spot-tailed Antwren is generally uncommon to fairly common across its range, but is not easily observed due to its canopy-level habits.

E Venezuela (Bolívar E of R Caura and S of R Orinoco), the Guianas and NE Amazonian Brazil (E of R Trombetas).

Loudsong a series of short notes (e.g. 26 notes, 2·8 seconds) that accelerate and become more abrupt, initially rises in pitch and then flattens out, pitch and intensity drop at end. Calls include sharply downslurred “chut” repeated in groups of 2–3, and abrupt (e.g. 0·1 second) muffled whistle, mostly upslurred.