The Story
I photographed this female Barred Antshrike (Thamnophilus doliatus) at the Hacienda El Triunfo Private Nature Reserve, near Honda, Tolima, Colombia, in October 2019. Like other antshrikes, it has a stout, hooked bill like a true shrike’s. Males are barred black and white, while females are cinnamon-rufous above with an ochre-buff belly, and both sexes have a bushy crest and a pale yellow eye. Pairs forage close together in dense foliage, usually within 3 meters of the ground, and almost never join mixed flocks. It eats insects, other arthropods, small lizards, fruit and seeds, and it also takes prey fleeing army ant swarms. IUCN lists it as Least Concern, with a stable population.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 800. It does well in Neotropical dry forest, which has been called arguably the most threatened of all tropical habitats.
©2020 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Barred Antshrike (Thamnophilus doliatus) belongs to the family Thamnophilidae (Typical Antbirds) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2021), with the population trend listed as stable. Source: IUCN Red List