Bird of the day
Dusky antbird
Cercomacra tyrannina
The dusky antbird or tyrannine antbird (Cercomacroides tyrannina) is a passerine bird in subfamily Thamnophilinae of family Thamnophilidae, the "typical antbirds". It is found from Mexico south through Central America and in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela.
The dusky antbird is 13 to 15 cm (5.1 to 5.9 in) long and weighs 15 to 19 g (0.53 to 0.67 oz). Males of the nominate subspecies C. t. tyrannina are mostly slate gray; their wings and tail are darker and their underparts lighter. They have a white patch between their scapulars and narrow white tips on their wing coverts and outer tail feathers. Their posterior underparts have a clay-colored tinge. Females have a tawny-tinged dark olive-gray crown, upperparts, and wings. They have a very small white interscapular patch. Their wing coverts have cinnamon edges. Their tail is dark grayish brown. Their supercilium, throat, and underparts are tawny-buff with an olive tinge to their flanks.
Males of subspecies C. t. crepera are blacker than nominate males and have smaller white tips on their wing coverts and tail. Females have more rufescent wings than the nominate. C. t. vicina males have brownish olive wings, tail, and flanks. C. t. saturatior males are blacker than the nominate; they have white tips on the feathers of the crissum and usually white tips on some of the breast feathers. Females have grayer upperparts than the nominate.
Adults of both sexes of all subspecies have a rich chocolate-brown iris.
Aliases
Cercomacra tyrannina