Rufous-winged antshrike

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Rufous-winged antshrike (Thamnophilus torquatus)

Description
- A small bird about 14 cm long and weighing 18–20 g.
- Males: black crown, gray face and upperparts, cinnamon-rufous wings, black tail with white bars, whitish throat and underparts with a black breast band.
- Females: rufous crown, pale cinnamon-rufous upperparts, rufous tail, and buffy underparts with darker breast; face is mottled whitish and gray.
- The species has no other subspecies (monotypic).

Distribution and habitat
- Lives in Brazil (from Pará to Pernambuco and Rio de Janeiro) and extends west into Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, southern Bolivia (Santa Cruz), and eastern Paraguay (Canindeyú).
- Inhabits the understory of cerrado and nearby semi-deciduous woodlands, brushy gallery forests, and second-growth areas.
- Usually found below 1,000 m, but can be seen up to about 1,750 m.

Behavior
- Year-round resident (not migratory).
- Forages mainly for insects and other arthropods.
- Usually hunts in the understory within about 2 m of the ground, moving through leaves and branches and sometimes dropping to the ground to pick prey from leaf litter.
- Often seen alone or in pairs; may join mixed-species feeding flocks.

Breeding
- Nests from April to June.
- Nests are cup-shaped, made of grass, rootlets, and fungal fibers (sometimes moss, bark, or human fibers), and are suspended 0.7–1.5 m above the ground.
- Clutch usually two eggs (rarely three).
- Both parents incubate and feed the young.
- Incubation about 15 days; fledging about 10 days after hatch.

Vocalization
- Song is a moderately long, accelerating series of nasal notes.
- Calls include a querulous upslurred whistle, a nasal note that becomes harsh, and a growl.

Status
- IUCN: Least Concern.
- Has a very large range; population size is unknown and believed to be decreasing.
- Generally uncommon to fairly common; adaptable to second-growth habitats and found in several protected areas.

Notes
- It is closely related to the Rufous-capped antshrike; some scientists have proposed treating them as the same species.