Slender Antbird (Rhopornis ardesiaca)
Male Slender Antbird, Boa Nova, Brazil, Brazil, July 2002 - click for larger image Boa Nova, Bahia, Brazil
July 2002

The Slender Antbird is a Brazilian endemic found only in a few remnants of dry forest in the interior of south Bahia. It is found associated with large ground bromeliads.
Female Slender Antbird, Boa Nova, Brazil, Brazil, July 2002 - click for larger image Although it seems quite common in its habitat, this type of deciduous woodland is fast disappearing in north east Brazil and, as a result, the Slender Antbird is classified as Endangered by Birdlife International.

It is a large grey antbird and the male, shown in photos 1 and 4, has a triangular black throat patch, white wing-bars and a red iris. The female, shown in photos 2 and 3, is similar but with a rufous-brown crown and nape, a white throat and paler underparts turning to white in mid-belly.
Female Slender Antbird, Boa Nova, Brazil, Brazil, July 2002 - click for larger image The male's song is a loud series of six or seven notes and is frequently accompanied in a duet by the female, seen singing in photo 3.

The birds feed on the ground and in the bromeliads where they look for spiders, termites, grasshoppers and other invertebrates.

There are illustrations in Ridgely & Tudor, Volume 2, Plate 21; and Sick, Plate 45.

Male Slender Antbird, Boa Nova, Brazil, Brazil, July 2002 - click for larger image
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