Black-backed ant catcher

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Black-backed ant catcher
Systematics
Subordination : Screeching Birds (Tyranni)
Family : Ant birds (Thamnophilidae)
Subfamily : Thamnophilinae
Tribe : Formicivorini
Genre : Terenura
Type : Black-backed ant catcher
Scientific name
Terenura sicki
Teixeira & Gonzaga , 1983

The black-backed ant catcher ( Terenura sicki ), also known as the sick ant catcher , is a rare songbird in the ant bird family . Its occurrence is limited to the states of Alagoas and Pernambuco in northeastern Brazil .

discovery

The blackback ant catcher is a fairly recent discovery in ornithological experts. It was only described in 1983 by the two Brazilian ornithologists Dante Martins Teixeira and Luiz Pedreira Gonzaga. It was named after the German ornithologist Helmut Sick .

Features and habitat

The black-backed ant catcher reaches a size of 10 cm. The males are predominantly black on the upper side and striped whitish on the head, neck and coat. The face and ears are striped whitish and black. A black streak of beard runs from beak to eyes. The wings and tail are colored black. In addition, the wings have matt white bands and edges. The underside is colored white with black stripes in places on the chest.

These birds got the English name Orange-bellied Antwren from the coloring of the females. These have a black crown with white stripes but are otherwise reddish-brown above and orange-red below. The throat has a pale yellow-brown tint. The females also have black stripes on their chests in places.

Its habitat are the upper layers of moist forests at an altitude of 400 to 700 m above sea level.

food

The diet consists of beetles, cockroaches, ants and other insects.

Breeding season

The breeding season is probably from November to February. The nests are hidden in the thick foliage at a height of 10 to 12 m. They are usually found in mixed flocks of birds, but isolated pairs have also been observed.

voice

His voice consists of soft, constant trills that last 3 to 4 seconds and a rapid repeated call that sounds like tzí-de-de-de tzí-de-de-de.

Danger

The distribution is limited to six locations in the Atlantic rainforest of Alagoas and Pernambuco. These are small, heavily fragmented forest remnants near Murici (Alagoas), Pedra Talhada (Alagoas), Usina Serra Grande (Alagoas), Novo Lino (Alagoas), Água Azul (Pernambuco) and Frei Caneca (Pernambuco) with a total area of ​​126 km².

Between 250 and 1,000 specimens still exist in a rapidly shrinking habitat, which is primarily endangered by excessive deforestation, fire, the creation of sugar cane plantations and pasture land, and road construction. For example, a forest near Murici was reduced from an area of ​​70 km² in the 1970s to an area of ​​only 30 km² in the 1990s. It is classified by the IUCN as critically endangered ( critically endangered ).

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