Glossy Antshrike Sakesphorus luctuosus Scientific name definitions

Endemic to Brazil, the bulky-bodied Glossy Antshrike is found from south-central to southeast Amazonia, where it inhabits lowland riverine forest, below 250 m, including seasonally flooded areas. It reaches its easternmost limits in the valley of the Rio Araguaia, in Tocantins, Mato Grosso, and Goiás, from where a separate subspecies has been described, based on the narrower white tail tips and broader white edges to the scapulars, but it is unclear whether such variation really merits nomenclatural recognition. The sexes are similar in being principally glossy black, becoming slightly paler ventrally, with white scapular fringes, which may be more or less obvious, but females are ‘topped off’ by a ‘shaggy’ chestnut-brown crown that makes them readily distinguished from their partners. The loudsong is strident and frequently heard, and the birds can be bold in response to playback, although in general Glossy Antshrikes remain hidden in the lower stories of the vegetation.

17 cm; 27–33 g. Prominent crest. Male is black, with dark grey on posterior upperparts and underparts , partially concealed white under scapulars, and large white tail tips. Female differs in having forehead and crest deep chestnut-brown. Subadult male is like female, but crest usually shows emerging black feathers. Race <em>araguayae</em> differs from nominate in broader white edges under scapulars, less white at tips of rectrices.

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C & E Amazonian Brazil, on both banks and along S tributaries, from EC Amazonas E to Pará and Tocantins and S to NE Rondônia, N & SE Mato Grosso and Goiás.

Understorey and mid-storey of flooded evergreen forest, riparian forest and adjacent humid second growth in lowlands, below 250 m. Occupies mainly the shrubbier, viny, margins of flooded várzea and igapó forests. Locally common on forested river islands. Also occurs along margins of small tributaries of major rivers that are not subject to extensive flooding.

Presumed resident throughout range.

Feeds primarily on a variety of insects, including true bugs (Hemiptera), katydids (Tettigoniidae), beetles (including Curculionidae) and lepidopteran larvae, and other arthropods (particularly spiders). Forages singly or in pairs, only occasionally with mixed-species flocks, in dense thickets (often over water) and vine tangles, from ground level to 15 m up, progressing by short hops separated by pauses of 1–15 seconds to scan for prey. Reaches out, up or down to glean items from all leaf, stem, vine or branch surfaces with quick stabbing motion of the bill; occasionally makes short, upward-directed sallies to take food from overhanging vegetation; also occasionally drops to ground to take terrestrial prey. The crest is typically laid flat when foraging; when agitated, raises crest, raises and fans tail, and droops wings.

Loudsong a moderately long (3–6 seconds) accelerating series of 8–20 strident clear notes, varying only slightly in pitch. Other vocalizations include a slowly repeated series of downslurred whistles; soft and raspy “caw” notes; also long downslurred whistle, and shorter downslurred whistle that immediately becomes a short rattle.

Only one nest known, found in Dec in SE Pará (R Itacaiunas): described as a pendent bag c. 8 cm deep, made of dark, fibrous plant material with some paler, thicker leaves worked into sides, placed c. 1 m from trunk in crown of small tree 3 m tall, the only arboreal vegetation on a small rocky island surrounded by fairly fast-flowing water; both parents fed nestlings.

Not globally threatened. Generally fairly common throughout its range, which includes extensive areas of suitable habitat, some of which are formally protected, e.g. Cristalino State Park, Araguaia National Park and Caxiuanã National Forest. Reliance on flooded-forest habitat makes this species less prone to disturbance, and its ability to colonize adjacent disturbed second-growth thickets suggests a low sensitivity.