Large-billed Antwren - Herpsilochmus longirostris

Large-billed Antwren (Herpsilochmus longirostris)

Brazil

According to Sick, the Large-billed Antwren is a Brazilian endemic but according to Ridgely & Tudor it is also found in north-east Bolivia.

Either way, it is not very common and it spends most of its time in the middle levels of gallery forest. This makes it difficult to take photos that show the identification features. This male was about 10 metres directly above me in gallery forest in the Emas National Park.

The one identity feature that is clearly shown here is the grey spotting on the breast which separates it from similar male Herpsilochmus antwrens. It is just possible to make out the white supercilium and the black eye-stripe but the black crown is not visible.

The female as shown in the third photo is very attractive with a bright orange-rufous head and neck merging into bright cinnamon-buff underparts. This bird was on an island in the middle of the river Araguaia.

Female Large-billed Antwren, rio Araguiaia, Tocantins, Brazil, January 2002 - click for larger image

There is an illustration in Ridgely & Tudor, Volume 2, Plate 18

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