Bird Guide

Mayan Antthrush vs Rufous-breasted Antthrush

Mayan Antthrush (Formicarius moniliger)

Mayan Antthrush

Formicarius moniliger

Medium62 gForest

The Mayan antthrush is 15 to 19 cm (5.9 to 7.5 in) long and weighs about 56 to 64 g (2.0 to 2.3 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a dusky brown crown. They have a small white spot on their lores and bare bluish skin around their eye. Their face from their bill to their eye is black that extends down to include the chin and throat. The sides of their neck are rufous that continues across under the black throat. Their nape, back, rump, and uppertail coverts are brown with a rufescent tinge on the last. Voice: The Mayan antthrush's song "begins with a single introductory whistle followed, after a short pause, by a series of 8–14 whistles at a flat pitch, or alternatively gradually increasing or decreasing in pitch piu...piupiupiupiupiupiupiupiupiu!". There appears to be some regional variation in the song. Both sexes sing, primarily in the morning and late afternoon.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Mayan Antthrush
Recorded by MANUEL DE JESUS HERNANDEZ ANCHEITA · Uncertain · Chiapas, Palenque Ruins, Mexico · CC0
Photo: josebarrientos · CC BY 4.0
Rufous-breasted Antthrush (Formicarius rufipectus)

Rufous-breasted Antthrush

Formicarius rufipectus

Medium74 gForest

The rufous-breasted antthrush is 18 to 19 cm (7.1 to 7.5 in) long. Males weigh 70 to 78 g (2.5 to 2.8 oz) and females 65 to 82 g (2.3 to 2.9 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies F. r. rufipectus have a dark chestnut crown, nape, and sides of their neck. Their face and throat are blackish with a bluish white ring of bare skin around their eye. Their back and wings are dark brown, their rump and uppertail coverts dark rufescent brown, and their tail blackish. Their flight feathers have dusky inner edges and a wide cinnamon band at the base. Voice: The rufous-breasted antthrush's song varies somewhat among the subspecies. It is "two clear whistles at 1·8–2 kHz, 'toot-toot', second note sometimes slightly higher-pitched in rufipectus, usually so in carrikeri. The species' call is "a double-noted chirp" written by one author as "TU'TCHOOP".

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Rufous-breasted Antthrush
Recorded by Niels Krabbe · Song · El Oro: Reserva Buenaventura 9 km WNW Piñas, Ecuador · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Francisco Sánchez Karste · CC BY 4.0

Learn this pair in the BeakBrain App

Photo and call practice. Coming soon to iPhone and Android.

Play today's Daily Bird

Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Mayan Antthrush and Rufous-breasted Antthrush.