Parker's antbird
Parker's antbird (Cercomacroides parkeri) is a small bird in the antbird family, found only in Colombia. It was described in 1997 by Gary Graves as Cercomacra parkeri and named to honor Theodore A. Parker III. A 2014 genetic study moved it to the genus Cercomacroides. There are no subspecies.
The bird is about 13.5–15 cm long. Males are slate gray on top with lighter underparts and have small white patches on the wings and outer tail. Females are olive brown with a gray crown and tawny underparts. Both sexes have a chocolate brown iris and brownish-black legs.
Parker's antbird lives on the western slopes of the Western Andes and on the northern and eastern slopes of the Central and Eastern Andes in humid montane forests, forest edges, and bamboo thickets, at elevations of about 1,100–1,950 meters. It stays in the area year-round.
Its diet is mainly insects, especially beetles. It forages low in the undergrowth and sometimes in the mid-storey, usually by gleaning prey from vegetation from a perch. It typically forages alone, in pairs, or with a family group and rarely joins mixed-species flocks.
Breeding season includes at least April to July, but little else is known about its breeding biology.
The male sings a muted note followed by a rising, accelerating series; the female sings a shorter, higher-pitched version with downslurred notes. Calls include a rapid sputter of notes and a short nasal, descending note.
Parker's antbird is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN. It has a limited range and an unknown population size believed to be decreasing, but there are no immediate threats identified. It is considered fairly common and, because it can live in second growth and forest edges, it is less vulnerable than some species that require intact forest. Deforestation in the Colombian Andes remains a general concern for humid montane forest birds.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 07:09 (CET).