Species names in all available languages
| Language | Common name |
|---|---|
| Catalan | batarà pissarrós occidental |
| Dutch | Westelijke Gevlekte Mierklauwier |
| English | Black-crowned Antshrike |
| English (United States) | Black-crowned Antshrike |
| French | Batara à nuque noire |
| French (France) | Batara à nuque noire |
| German | Kolumbienameisenwürger |
| Japanese | ニシハイイロアリモズ |
| Norwegian | svartnakkemaurvarsler |
| Polish | chronka nizinna |
| Russian | Пестрокрылый колючник |
| Serbian | Crnokapi mravlji svračak |
| Slovak | batara tmavochrbtá |
| Spanish | Batará Pizarroso Occidental |
| Spanish (Costa Rica) | Batará Plomizo |
| Spanish (Ecuador) | Batará Coroninegro |
| Spanish (Honduras) | Hormiguero Corona Negra |
| Spanish (Panama) | Batará Coroninegro |
| Spanish (Peru) | Batará de Corona Negra |
| Spanish (Spain) | Batará pizarroso occidental |
| Spanish (Venezuela) | Tiojorita Pintada |
| Swedish | svartnackad myrtörnskata |
| Turkish | Kara Tepeli Gri Karıncaavcısı |
| Ukrainian | Сорокуш низинний |
Black-crowned Antshrike Thamnophilus atrinucha
Version: 1.0 — Published June 14, 2010
Diet and Foraging
Diet
Main food taken
Western Slaty-Antshrikes take a variety of prey. Oniki (1975) observed the following prey items captured by adults: scorpion, spider, millipede, roach, stick insect, mantid, cricket, katydid, grasshopper, cicada, true bug, moth, cocoon, and caterpillar. In addition to the ones listed above, adults prey on anolis lizards (CET and JPK, pers. obs.). Parents feed their offspring similar prey (Oniki 1975).
Quantitative analysis
No quantitative analyses of adult diet have been conducted. Parents feed nestlings a variety of arthropod prey, including katydids, caterpillars, spiders, and beetles, with all other prey items comprising less than 5% of total prey items brought to the nest (Tarwater et al. 2009). See 'Parental Care' for more information.
Microhabitat for foraging
Adults forage in a variety of locations throughout the forest. Though adults will place nests (in shrubs) in the center of forest gaps (CET and JPK, unpubl. data), adults do not forage for long in these areas. That said, Western Slaty-Antshrikes clearly are not as photophobic as other understory rainforest birds such as the Spotted Antbird (Hylophylax naevioides), which actively avoid even small specks of sun on the forest floor except when engaged in "sunning" behavior (Willis 1972). Individuals can commonly be seen foraging in dense liana tangles, with or without mixed-species foraging flocks. Individuals may chase food to the ground (Figure 2), but active foraging on the ground is not common. For more information, see General Foraging in the Behavior: Foraging section below.
Food capture and consumption
See Behavior: Foraging for more information.
Food selection and storage
See Behavior: Foraging for more information. No instances of food caching have been reported.
Nutrition and energetics
See below for 'Metabolism.' No other information available.
Metabolism and temperature regulation
One male in Panama had a nighttime resting metabolic rate of 0.34 Watts (at an ambient temperature of 30° C) (Vleck and Vleck 1979). Body temperature (cloacal) for this individual was 37.3° C. Mean cloacal body temperature of 11 birds measured during the day was 42.0° C (range=40.8-42.9° C) (Oniki 1972).
Drinking, pellet-casting, and defecation
No descriptions of drinking behavior for this species. No reports of pellet-casting.
