Dull-mantled Antbird (Sipia laemosticta); Hormiguero alimaculado; Grauscheitel-Ameisenvogel; Alapi tabac

My last several posts have dealt chiefly with migratory species in this still-current 2023-24 migration period. Most such species are already familiar to many North American visiting birders and so I have decided to take a brief look at a resident Costa Rican antbird that will almost certainly be of interest to visitors from both hemispheres, as well as to the now increasingly numerous Costa Rican birding fraternity.

The standard field guide has long been The Birds of Costa Rica (Richard Garrigues & Robert Dean) and its most recent edition probably continues to be the single most helpful one, despite the appearance of several potential competitors. Recent and sustained research has also led to a proliferation of taxonomical changes, which continue to make it difficult for birders to keep up with the nomenclature of many species.

This is also the case with the Dull-mantled Antbird whose scientific name is now Sipia laemosticta, replacing the former Myrmeciza laemosticta, which still appears in most field guides. Note also that the scientific name of the only other Costa Rican antbird of the Myrmeciza genus, the Chestnut-backed Antbird, is now Poliocrania exsul. Both of these species are actually rated as fairly common on the Caribbean slope, although the Chestnut-backed is also common on the Pacific slope. The Dull-mantled Antibird is not found on the Pacific side of the country and is now considered endemic to only Costa Rica and western Panama. Some 22 antbird species are resident in Costa Rica but are generally hard to find because of their generally skulking habits. Photography in their mostly gloomy environment is not easy. This is particularly the case with the Dull-mantled Antbird, as it usually prefers to feed among leaf litter and stay very low to the ground.

The nearest location in which this species is reliably found is in the vicinity of the Eco Lodge at San Rafael de Pavones on the other side of Turrialba, where friend and guide Steven Aguilar reports it fairly frequently. A little further afield is the valley of the Rio Tuis from where there are also many sightings – usually of course just glimpses or vocalisations. One was heard clearly vocalising at Aquiares in July 2023. My own first and best sighting was at Verbena Sur in company with Steven Easley at his property in Verbena Sur just down the hill from our village of San Antonio in January 2016. We had excellent views of a loudly calling bird. I do have access to photographs taken fairly recently at both La Marta and San Rafael de Pavones and La Marta but this time, unfortunately, none was of sufficient quality – according to my indispensable but often too humble photographer friends.

By the way, sexes of the Dull-mantled Antbird are almost identical, although the female has spots also on the throat, while the upper breast is grey, not black.