Conservation

Black-faced Antthrush is not a species of conservation concern. Populations have not declined in tropical areas studied over time, such as Palenque, Mexico (Patten et al. 2010), and the species will recolonize forest patches a short time after isolation if there is some habitat connectivity (Stouffer et al. 2011). But see also Effects of human activity on populations.

Black-faced Antthrush is sensitive to habitat fragmentation and loss in portions of its range, such as Amazonian Brazil (e.g., Mestre et al. 2010), perhaps because it has a much large home range than does Rufous-capped Antthrush (Formicarius colma) (Stouffer 1997). In other portions of its range, such as parts of southern Mexico (Patten et al. 2010), there is no evidence of population decline.  Nevertheless, the species has been extirpated from some regions (e.g., Los Tuxtlas, Mexico; Shaw et al. 2013), has declined in others (e.g., La Selva, Costa Rica; Boyle and Sigel 2015; cf. Sigel et al. 2006), has disappeared from some isolated patches of suitable forest that lack connectivity (e.g., Barro Colorado Island, Panama; Willis 1974), and may be sensitive to habitat fragmentation in that it tends to disappear from small forest patches (Stratford and Stouffer 1999, 2013, Şekercioǧlu et al. 2002, Lees and Peres 2008). The species also is reported to be sensitive to logging activities and associated habitat (Mason 1996, Felton et al. 2008) and to oil exploration (Canaday and Rivadeneyra 2001). Experimental evidence supports the hypothesis that the Black-faced Antthrush is among those forest species less likely to move between patches than non-forest species at the same study site (Ibarra-Macias et al. 2011).