The sooty antbird is a species of bird in the family Thamnophilidae. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.
Similar species: Perching Birds
By Thibaud Aronson
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Uploaded Sep 27, 2020. Captured Aug 26, 2020 16:09 in Palcazu, 19320, Peru.
comments (3)
I'd seen a pair of this delightful antbird in February, foraging calmly along a trail, but this was unfortunately after my camera broke down, so I was hoping to get a photo on my return trip in August.
One day, as I was on my way back to the station, I caught a glimpse of this male ahead of me before he disappeared in the undergrowth. I tried for a while to relocate him, but nothing, so eventually I decided to use a bit of playback. Almost immediately, a series of ringing whistles answered, maybe 15 meters from me. I couldn't spot him so I shed my backpack and very slowly made my way up the slope, on treading on slippery, moss-covered boulders in a dry creekbed. The bird had clearly been very offended by this auditory intruder and kept singing from the same spot. In a classic tropical birding experience, I could hear the song get louder and louder as I got closer, to the absurd point where I was no more than three meters and still couldn't see anything! Finally, I cleared a branch and my eyes landed on this gorgeous fellow. We both froze, as he gave me a dubious look, before flying to another branch to resume his singing. Fortunately now I had him in my sights and I was able to follow him up and down the slope for some ten minutes, getting a few decent photos considering the light (notice the ISO). He didn't seem to mind me much and eventually stopped singing and started looking for grubs, but that meant he no longer perched on nice exposed branches so I let him be and made my way back to the station. Posted 4 years ago
Well done! Posted 4 years ago