| Orange-bellied Antwren (Terenura sicki) (aka Alagoas Antwren but this name is normally given to Myrmotherula snowi) |
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Jaqueira, Pernambuco, Brazil March 2004 The Orange-bellied Antwren is a Brazilian endemic found in a few remnants of Atlantic Rain Forest in the states of Alagoas and Pernambuco in north-east Brazil. It is classified as Endangered by Birdlife International because of its small range and its endangered habitat. |
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These are very poor photos but photos of this species are few and far between. The male, seen in photos 3 and 4, is mostly black above with white streaking while below it is whitish. With a bit of imagination you can just make out the black moustachial stripe in the 4th photo. Curiously, it is the female, seen in photos 1 and 2, that gives the species its English name. It has a blackish crown with white streaks and is otherwise rufous above and rufous-orange below. | |||
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It is described as "fairly common" at Murici so we were concerned when we neither saw nor heard the species in our 3 days at that reserve. We eventually came across this pair at the R.P.P.N. Frei Caneca near Jaqueira. They were in the canopy of a mid-sized tree and were hopping about restlessly at between 10 and 15 metres above the ground making them difficult to photograph. | |||
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The species was only described as recently as 1983. See Teixeira D.M. & Gonzaga L.P., 1983: A new antwren from northeastern Brazil Bull. Brit. Orn. Club 103(4): 133-135. See also Birdlife International's excellent web-page by clicking here. | |||
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