White-bearded antshrike

The white-bearded antshrike (Biatas nigropectus) is a species of bird in the family Thamnophilidae, the only member of the genus Biatas. It is endemic to the Atlantic forest of Argentina and Brazil.

White-bearded antshrike
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Thamnophilidae
Genus: Biatas
Cabanis & Heine, 1860
Species:
B. nigropectus
Binomial name
Biatas nigropectus
(Lafresnaye, 1850)

The white-bearded antshrike is a bamboo specialist. It is threatened by habitat loss.

Taxonomy

The white-bearded antshrike was described by the French ornithologist Frédéric de Lafresnaye in 1850 and given the binomial name Anabates nigro-pectus.[2] The genus was erected by the German ornithologists Jean Cabanis and Ferdinand Heine in 1860 with the white-bearded antshrike as the type species.[3][4] The specific name combines the Latin words niger meaning "black" and pectus meaning "breast". The name of the genus is from the Ancient Greek biatas meaning "tyrant".[5]

Ecology

In Argentina, the white-bearded antshrike has been found only in Guadua bamboo, especially yatevo (Guadua trinii).[6] It feeds on insects that it gleans from bamboo. It is a cryptic species that rarely sings so very little is known about its ecology.[6]

Conservation

The white-bearded antshrike is globally Vulnerable.[1][7] The main threat to this species is habitat loss from clearing of bamboo.

References
  1. BirdLife International (2012). "Biatas nigropectus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  2. Lafresnaye, Frédéric de (1850). "Sur le genre Vanga, note suivie de la description du Vanga xenopirostrix et de l'Anabates nigro-pectus". Revue et Magasin de Zoologie Pure et Appliquée. Series 2 (in French). 2: 104–108 [107], plate 1 fig. 3.
  3. Cabanis, Jean; Heine, Ferdinand (1860). Museum Heineanum : Verzeichniss der ornithologischen Sammlung des Oberamtmann Ferdinand Heine, auf Gut St. Burchard vor Halberstadt (in German and Latin). Volume 2. Halberstadt: R. Frantz. p. 19.
  4. Peters, James Lee, ed. (1951). Check-list of Birds of the World. Volume 7. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 162.
  5. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 71, 272. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  6. Bodrati, A.; Cockle, K. (2006). "Habitat, distribution, and conservation of Atlantic forest birds in Argentina: Notes on nine rare or threatened species" (PDF). Ornitologia Neotropical. 17 (2): 243–258.
  7. BirdLife International. 2004. BirdLife Species Factsheet.
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