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Barred Antthrush Chamaeza mollissima Scientific name definitions

Niels Krabbe and Thomas S. Schulenberg
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated January 1, 2003

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Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Introduction

Arguably the most immediately distinctive of the Chamaeza antthrushes on account of its very heavily and closely barred (rather than scalloped or streaked) underparts, the Barred Antthrush is a very local and relatively infrequently encountered bird. It ranges through the Andes, from central Colombia south to Bolivia, but seems to be nowhere easily seen, and like other congenerics is most likely to be initially detected by virtue of its voice, a steadily delivered series of notes recalling that of Schwartz’s Antthrush (Chamaeza turdina) or Such’s Antthrush (Chamaeza meruloides). Barred Antthrush inhabits the undergrowth (usually the ground) of undisturbed cloud forests, often in areas with many mosses and lichens, at elevations between at least 1800 and 3100 m.

Field Identification

19–20·5 cm; two males 69 g and 80 g, three females 72–77 g. Adult has whitish lores, postocular streak narrowly barred black and white, black auriculars with some white barring; crown, upperparts and tail chestnut to dark brown, slightly more rufescent on rump and uppertail-coverts; stripe below eye chestnut, throat narrowly barred black and white; underparts dark brown to black, narrowly barred white or buff, lower flanks brown; iris dark brown; bill black, base of lower mandible dark brown; tarsus grey-brown. Juvenile undescribed. Race yungae is darker than nominate, has pale bars below slightly broken in feather centres (rather than of uniform width), creating slightly spotted appearance.

Systematics History

Editor's Note: This article requires further editing work to merge existing content into the appropriate Subspecies sections. Please bear with us while this update takes place.

Birds from Cordillera de Colán (N Peru) somewhat intermediate in plumage between nominate race and yungae. Two subspecies recognized.

Subspecies

SUBSPECIES

Chamaeza mollissima mollissima Scientific name definitions

Chamaeza mollissima mollissima
C. m. mollissima

Distribution

Colombia in middle and upper Cauca Valley and upper Magdalena Valley, and S on E slope of Andes (from E Nariño, possibly from Meta) to N Peru (N of R Marañón, also just S of there on Cordillera de Colán).
SUBSPECIES

Chamaeza mollissima yungae Scientific name definitions

Chamaeza mollissima yungae
C. m. yungae

Distribution

from SE Peru (Vilcabamba Mts, in Cuzco; recently sound-recorded in S Cerros del Sira, in SW Ucayali (1) ) to C Bolivia (Yungas of Cochabamba).

Distribution

Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Habitat

Undisturbed cloudforest and humid-wet montane forest, in dense undergrowth with fallen trees covered in mosses and lichens; at 1800–3100 m.

Movement

Presumably sedentary.

Diet and Foraging

Few data on diet; one stomach held small seeds. Alone or in pairs, very secretive. Walks and runs on forest floor, pumping tail, which usually held cocked.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Song 6–30 seconds long (longest at high excitement), a series of similar notes at even pace of 6–7 per second, increasing steadily in volume and in pitch (from c. 1·4 to c. 1·9 kHz), increasing variably throughout song or through first half and then levelling, sometimes pace slowing and pitch slightly lowering over final few seconds; much like song of C. turdina and C. meruloides but faster, and beginning at higher pitch. Calls include 3-noted, rapid “weeweewit” at c. 2·2 kHz; also squeaky “wickwick, wock” during fights.

Breeding

Specimen changing from juvenile to immature plumage in Nov in SE Peru (Puno). Sings from ground or slightly elevated perch. No other information.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern
Not globally threatened. Very local; rare in Peru. Generally very rare to rare in Ecuador, but fairly common in Gran Sumaco National Park. Occurs in several other protected areas, e.g. Podocarpus National Park, Ecuador, and Machu Picchu Historical Sanctuary, Peru.
Distribution of the Barred Antthrush - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Barred Antthrush

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Krabbe, N. and T. S. Schulenberg (2020). Barred Antthrush (Chamaeza mollissima), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.barant2.01
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