Information About

Black-crested Antshrike




  Name Black-crested Antshrike
  Regnum Animal ia
  Phylum Chordata
  Classis Aves
  Ordo Passeriformes
  Familia Thamnophilidae
  Genus '' Sakesphorus ''
  Species '''''S canadensis'''''
  Binomial ''Sakesphorus canadensis''
  Binomial Authority Linnaeus , 1766


The Black-crested Antshrike, ''Sakesphorus canadensis'', is a Passerine Bird in the Antbird family. It is a resident breeder in tropical South America in Trinidad , Colombia , Venezuela , the Guianas , northern Brazil and northeastern Peru .

This is a bird of undergrowth in Mangrove or other swampy forest and thickets near water. It is usually found as territorial pairs. The female lays two purple-lined white eggs in a deep cup nest suspended below a branch or vine. They are incubated by both sexes for 14 days to hatching, the female always brooding at night. The chicks fledge in another 12 days.

The Black-crested Antshrike is typically 15.7 cm long, and weighs 24 g. The adult male has a black head, prominent crest, throat and breast, a rufous-brown back, black wings with white feather edges, a short black tail and a white belly.

The female and immature males have a chestnut crest and head with black and white barring on the cheeks, dull brown upperparts, black-streaked buff underparts, and browner wing and tail feathers than the male.

The Black-crested Antshrike feeds on Insect s and other Arthropod s gleaned from foliage. It will also take small Lizard s and Berries . It is an inconspicuous species, often first located by its song, an accelerating and ascending series of musical notes ''cuew-cuew-cuew-cue-cue-cue-cu-cu-cu-cu'', or the call, a snarled ''churrrr''.


References

  • ''Birds of Venezuela'' by Hilty, ISBN 0-7136-6418-5

  • ''Birds of Trinidad and Tobago'' by ffrench, ISBN 0-7136-6759-1