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Guianan streaked antwren
male
female
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Thamnophilidae
Genus:	Myrmotherula
Species:	M. surinamensis
Binomial name
Myrmotherula surinamensis (Gmelin, JF, 1788)
Synonyms
Sitta surinamensis

The Guianan streaked antwren (Myrmotherula surinamensis) is a species of bird in subfamily Thamnophilinae of family Thamnophilidae, the "typical antbirds". It is found in Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela.

Taxonomy and systematics

The Guianan streaked antwren was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the nuthatches in the genus Sitta and coined the binomial name Sitta surinamensis. Gmelin based his description on the "Surinam nuthatch" that had been described and illustrated in 1782 by the English ornithologist John Latham in his A General Synopsis of Birds. The Guianan streaked antwren is now placed in the genus Myrmotherula that was introduced in 1858 by Philip Sclater. The species is monotypic: No subspecies are recognized.

During much of the twentieth century the Guianan streaked antwren and what are now the Pacific antwren (Myrmotherula pacifica) and the Amazonian streaked antwren (M. multostriata) were considered conspecific as the "streaked antwren". Differences in their plumage and voice indicate that they are separate species.

Description

The Guianan streaked antwren is 9 to 10.5 cm (3.5 to 4.1 in) long and weighs 7.5 to 9 g (0.26 to 0.32 oz). It is a smallish bird with a tiny tail. Adult males have a black and white streaked face. Their crown, back, and rump are black with thin white streaks. They have a large white patch between the shoulders. Their tail is black with white edges and tips to the feathers. Their wings are black with white tips on the coverts and white edges on the flight feathers. Their throat, breast, and belly are white and their flanks and crissum gray. Black streaks extend from the throat to the flanks and belly. Adult females have an orange-buff face and cinnamon-rufous crown and nape with black streaks. Their belly and crissum have a buff tinge; their underparts are mostly plain but may have fine streaks on the breast and sides.

Distribution and habitat

The Guianan streaked antwren is found from extreme eastern Colombia east through southern Venezuela and the Guianas and northern Brazil. It occurs only north and east of the Rio Negro and the Amazon River. It inhabits the understorey and mid-storey of lowland evergreen forest (primarily várzea and igapó) and shrubby secondary forest. It occurs almost entirely near water, in thickets and vine tangles by rivers, streams, and ponds, and in French Guiana also in mangroves. It occasionally is found in large clearings and shrubby forest borders away from water. In elevation it ranges from sea level to 450 m (1,500 ft).

Behavior

Movement

The Guianan streaked antwren is believed to be a year-round resident throughout its range.

Feeding

The Guianan streaked antwren feeds on arthropods, especially insects and probably also spiders. It typically forages singly or in pairs and briefly, but seldom, joins mixed-species feeding flocks. It mostly feeds between about 1 and 15 m (3 and 50 ft) above the ground or water. It actively seeks prey among leaves and vine tangles and along branches, gleaning by reaching, lunging, and with brief sallies from a perch.

Breeding

The Guianan streaked antwren's breeding season has not been defined, though active nests have been seen between August and October and dependent young in February. One nest in French Guiana was covered with moss; it was on a branch about 1 m (3 ft) above water and contained two eggs.

Vocalization

The Guianan streaked antwren's song is a "short, sharp, level trill 'd-rrrrr', 'd-' slightly lower". Its calls include a "slightly downslurred, complaining note, often given in doublet", a "short rattle", and a "single, abrupt 'chit' ".

Status

The IUCN originally in 2004 assessed the Guiana streaked antwren as being of Least Concern, then in 2012 as Vulnerable, and then in 2023 again as of Least Concern. It has a large range, and though its population size is not known it is believed to be stable. "The primary threat to this species is accelerating deforestation, as land is cleared for logging, cattle ranching and soy production, facilitated by expansion of the road network. Deforestation is overall low and large tracts of pristine forests persist, but it may be locally high, especially in the Brazilian part of the range." It is considered uncommon to fairly common in most of its range. It occurs in several protected areas in Venezuela and a few elsewhere. "The ability of this species to persist in shrubby second-growth habitats makes it less sensitive to disturbance than many other forest species" but deforestation is increasing.

References

1. ^ BirdLife International (2023). "Guianan Streaked Antwren Myrmotherula surinamensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2023: e.T22701445A223442596. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2023-1.RLTS.T22701445A223442596.en. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
2. ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (January 2024). "Antbirds". IOC World Bird List. v 14.1. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
3. Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, G. Del-Rio, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 26 November 2023. Species Lists of Birds for South American Countries and Territories. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCCountryLists.htm retrieved November 27, 2023
4. Gmelin, Johann Friedrich (1788). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae : secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1, Part 1 (13th ed.). Lipsiae : Georg. Emanuel. Beer. p. 442.
5. Peters, James Lee, ed. (1951). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 7. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 189.
6. Latham, John (1781). A General Synopsis of Birds. Vol. 1, Part 2. London: Printed for Leigh and Sotheby. p. 654, Plate 28.
7. Sclater, Philip Lutley (1858). "Synopsis of the American Ant-birds (Formicariidae). Part II containing the Formicivorinae or Ant-wrens". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 26: 232–254 . doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1858.tb06370.x.
8. Isler, M.L., Isler, P.R. and Whitney, B.M. (1999). Species limits in antbirds (Passeriformes: Thamnophilidae): the Myrmotherula surinamensis complex. Auk 116(1): 83–96.
9. Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, G. Del-Rio, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 26 November 2023. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved November 27, 2023
10. Check-list of North American Birds (7th ed.). Washington, D.C.: American Ornithologists' Union. 1998. p. 364.
11. Richard C. Banks, Carla Cicero, Jon L. Dunn, Andrew W. Kratter, Pamela C. Rasmussen, J. V. Remsen, Jr., James D. Rising, and Douglas F. Stotz. "Forty-second supplement to the American Ornithologist's Union Check-list of North American Birds". The Auk 2000, vol. 117:847-858 retrieved February 7, 2024
12. ^ Zimmer, K., M.L. Isler, and C. J. Sharpe (2020). Guianan Streaked-Antwren (Myrmotherula surinamensis), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.guista1.01 retrieved February 6, 2024
13. ^ van Perlo, Ber (2009). A Field Guide to the Birds of Brazil. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 240–241. ISBN 978-0-19-530155-7.
14. McMullan, Miles; Donegan, Thomas M.; Quevedo, Alonso (2010). Field Guide to the Birds of Colombia. Bogotá: Fundación ProAves. p. 132. ISBN 978-0-9827615-0-2.
15. "Guianan Streaked Antwren Myrmotherula surinamensis". BirdLife International. Retrieved February 6, 2024.

Data related to Myrmotherula surinamensis at Wikispecies

• IUCN Red List least concern species
• Myrmotherula
• Birds of the Guiana Shield
• Birds described in 1788
• Taxa named by Johann Friedrich Gmelin