Fringe-backed Fire-eye Pyriglena atra

Brazilian name: Papa-taoca-da-bahia
Male Fringe-backed Fire-eye, Bahia, Brazil, March 2004 - click for larger image Bahia, Brazil

The Fringe-backed Fire-eye is endemic to a very small area of north-east Brazil. It is known only from a few highly fragmented areas of lowland forest and secondary woodland in Bahia and Sergipe. It is classified as Endangered by Birdlife International.

The male is black with a red eye and a large white dorsal patch which looks like that photo of a drop of milk landing and spreading outwards. The female, seen in photo 5, is brown above, buffy-brown below with a black tail.

The pair shown in photos 1 to 4 were foraging on their own while in Sergipe we found a group of 4 males following an ant swarm. The male in photo 5, close to the type locality, was on its own as far as we could tell.

Male Fringe-backed Fire-eye, Bahia, Brazil, March 2004 - click for larger image An excellent page by Birdlife International can be found here, there are recordings on xeno-canto, a distribution map from NatureServe and additional information available via Avibase.
Male Fringe-backed Fire-eye, Bahia, Brazil, March 2004 - click for larger image
Female Fringe-backed Fire-eye, Bahia, Brazil, March 2004 - click for larger image
Male Fringe-backed Fire-eye, São Francisco de Paraguaçu, Bahia, Brazil, November 2008 - click for larger image
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