Pale-faced Bare-eye Phlegopsis borbae Scientific name definitions

All of the ‘professional’ antbirds, so-called because these species obligatorily follow army-ant swarms in search of prey, are much-desired ‘prizes’ among birdwatchers visiting Amazonia, but perhaps none of these species is more highly coveted than the Pale-faced Antbird. It is endemic to an apparently small range within south-central Amazonian Brazil, where it inhabits the understory of lowland terra firme forests in the Madeira–Tapajós interfluvium. It is best sought by listening for other obligate ant-followers, in order to locate an ant swarm, and then waiting quietly and patiently to see if this species is also in attendance; however, the Pale-faced Antbird always appears to be uncommon to rare throughout its relatively small range. Until recently placed in the monotypic genus Skutchia, which was named for Alexander Skutch, the Pale-faced Antbird has recently been returned, on the basis of molecular evidence, to the genus Phlegopsis, in which it was originally described, and where it resides with the two bare-eyes.

SC Amazonian Brazil from E bank of middle/lower R Madeira (S to E bank of R Roosevelt (2 Whittaker, A. (2009). Pousada Rio Roosevelt: a provisional avifaunal inventory in south-western Amazonian Brazil, with information on life history, new distributional data and comments on taxonomy. Cotinga 31:23–46. Close ) ) E to W bank of middle/lower R Tapajós (S to E bank of lower R Aripuanã).

Loudsong a brief series (e.g. 3 notes, 3·2 seconds) of long, slightly downslurred whistles, each diminishing in pitch and intensity, sometimes third whistle eliminated or inaudible. Calls include loud “psit”, a descending “chirr” diminishing in intensity, and a series of deep short notes delivered rapidly and usually descending in pitch.