Male Barred Antshrike

Sightings
This adult male Barred Antshrike Thamnophilus doliatus was seen with a female bird along the Trace Gilpin Trail in the Tobago Forest Reserve. It spent a considerable time hopping through the dense undergrowth before coming into the open along a stream for a few fleeting seconds. I was lucky enough to get a photo albeit in very low light as it is one of my favourite species, with its interesting plumage and a staring pale eye, certainly a species with attitude.

Species
This species exhibits marked sexual dimorphism. The adult male Barred Antshrike is barred all over with black and white, and has a white-based black crest that is raised in display. The female is rufous above with a chestnut crest. The sides of her head and neck are streaked with black, and the underparts are rich buff. In both sexes, the legs are grey, the bill is black and the iris is pale yellow. Barred Antshrike is an insectivore which feeds on ants and other arthropods at or near the ground; it sometimes follows columns of army ants, and will take small lizards and berries.

Status and Distribution
Barred Antshrike is a species of least concern with an estimated population of five million birds, decreasing in its range of more thatn 18 million square kilometres. It is found in the Neotropics from Tamaulipas, Mexico, through Central America, Trinidad and Tobago, and a large part of South America east of the Andes as far south as northern Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay. It is found in a wide range of wooded habitats, and even in gardens and parks, in both humid and arid regions. Throughout a large part of its range, it is among the most common antbirds. Barred Antshrike is common and widespread on both Trinidad and Tobago. There are 12 subspecies which include T. d. tobagensis found only on Tobago and T. d. doliatus found on Trinidad.

References
BirdLife; Wikipedia; World Bird Names; Kenefick, M., Restall, R., and Hayes, F. (2015) Birds of Trinidad and Tobago, Bloomsbury Publishing, page 196.

Photograph
The photograph was taken in very poor light deep in the forest at 1/100th of a second, f5.6 and ISO 5000.