page_title: Antbird
section_title: Status and conservation
hierarchical_section_title: Antbird / Status and conservation
caption_attribution_description: English: Pectoral Antwren (Herpsilochmus pectoralis) Jeremoabo, Bahia, Brazil
context_page_description: The antbirds are a large passerine bird family, Thamnophilidae, found across subtropical and tropical Central and South America, from Mexico to Argentina. There are more than 230 species, known variously as antshrikes, antwrens, antvireos, fire-eyes, bare-eyes and bushbirds. They are related to the antthrushes and antpittas, the tapaculos, the gnateaters and the ovenbirds. Despite some species' common names, this family is not closely related to the wrens, vireos or shrikes.
  Antbirds are generally small birds with rounded wings and strong legs. They have mostly sombre grey, white, brown and rufous plumage, which is sexually dimorphic in pattern and colouring. Some species communicate warnings to rivals by exposing white feather patches on their backs or shoulders. Most have heavy bills, which in many species are hooked at the tip.
  Most species live in forests, although a few are found in other habitats. Insects and other arthropods form the most important part of their diet, although small vertebrates are occasionally taken. Most species feed in the understory and midstory of the forest, although a few feed in the canopy and a few on the ground.
context_section_description: As of April 2008, 38 species are considered by the IUCN to be near threatened or worse and therefore at risk of extinction. Antbirds are neither targeted by the pet trade nor large enough to be hunted; the principal cause of the decline in antbird species is habitat loss. The destruction or modification of forests has several effects on different species of antbirds. The fragmentation of forests into smaller patches affects species that are averse to crossing gaps as small as roads. If these species become locally extinct in a fragment, this reluctance to cross unforested barriers makes their re-establishment unlikely. Smaller forest fragments are unable to sustain mixed-species feeding flocks, leading to local extinctions. Another risk faced by antbirds in fragmented habitat is increased nest predation. An unplanned experiment in fragmentation occurred on Barro Colorado Island, a former hill in Panama that became an isolated island during the flooding caused by the creation of the Panama Canal. Numerous species of antbird formerly resident in the area were extirpated, in no small part due to increased levels of nest predation on the island. While the species lost from Barro Colorado are not globally threatened, they illustrate the vulnerability of species in fragmented habitats and help explain the declines of some species. The majority of threatened species have very small natural ranges. Some are also extremely poorly known; for example the Rio de Janeiro antwren is known only from a single specimen collected in 1982, although there have been unconfirmed reports since 1994 and it is currently listed as critically endangered. Additionally, new species are discovered at regular intervals; the Caatinga antwren was described in 2000, the acre antshrike in 2004, the sincorá antwren in 2007, and the description of a relative of the Paraná antwren discovered in 2005 in the outskirts of São Paulo is being prepared. While not yet scientifically described, conservation efforts have already been necessary, as the site of discovery was set out to be flooded to form a reservoir. Consequently, 72 individuals were captured and transferred to another locality.
caption: The pectoral antwren of Brazil is threatened by the loss of deciduous forest and is listed as vulnerable by the IUCN.
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