ANIMALS

Meet The Incredible Dull-Mantled Ant Bird, Nature’s Marvelous Secret

In the dense rainforests, you’ll find a special bird known as the Dull-Mantled Ant Bird. It may not have flashy feathers, but it holds captivating mysteries. This bird is truly extraordinary, with its one-of-a-kind habits and significant contribution to the environment. Come along and discover the marvelous qualities of this hidden treasure as we delve into the amazing world of this winged creature.

The dull-mantled antbird belongs to a group of birds that have uniformly gray heads, usually dark or even black in color.

Image source: carlossanchez933

The dull-mantled antbird weighs around 24 grams and is about 13 to 14 centimeters long. These birds have a mostly blackish-gray color in the front and a dark reddish-brown shade in the back. They also have a unique white spot on a black wing patch where these two colors come together. However, in the dimly lit forest understory, these birds may appear entirely black, with only the white spots being noticeable.

The species has a loud song that consists of a quick sequence of eight notes every 1.8 seconds. Each note is short but clear and separate from the others.

Image source: jason_tiesman_birdphotography

The initial three loud songs from the male bird are either flat or slightly upward in pitch, while the remaining five have a downward pitch. Female loud songs start off resembling those of the males but with a raspier quality. However, the second part of the female song includes 2-4 short notes that gradually become deeper and quieter. When in pairs, the male bird often starts singing before the female bird joins in shortly after.

The natural home for this bird is in the tropical forests that are wet and found in lowland areas.

Image source: steve.keightley

These birds usually make their homes in areas ranging from 300 to 750 meters above sea level (ASL). However, in rare cases, they can be found as high as 1,500 meters. You can spot them on the forest floor and in the lower layers of the forest known as the understory. They prefer places with plenty of low-growing plants, like the slopes near streams, wet valleys in the foothills, and similar areas.

The dull-mantled antbird mainly eats insects and other small creatures with jointed legs, like spiders and beetles.

Image source: steve.keightley

The dull-mantled antbird stays near the ground, usually staying within 10 cm above the forest floor, as it searches for food. It jumps up to a low branch every so often to get a better view before quickly returning back down. These birds often feed by themselves, with a partner, or with their small family. They mainly capture their prey by carefully inspecting and picking insects from the vegetation after a short jump or flutter, or by picking them up from between the fallen leaves.

We have very little information regarding how this bird mates and reproduces.

Image source: jason_tiesman_birdphotography

The only nest that has been observed was a basic and delicate cup-shaped structure found low in a pepper plant on a cliffside in Colombia during March. The two eggs inside had white shells with cinnamon-colored speckles and rounded ends.

We have very limited knowledge about how the relatives of this bird reproduce as well. However, the evidence we have suggests that they may have a long breeding season that begins early in the year and extends possibly until June in northern South America. Further north, their breeding season might start in spring and continue until around September.

If you’re fascinated by this amazing bird and want to explore more captivating articles about birds, head straight to our homepage. There, you’ll find a treasure trove of information about other extraordinary birds from around the world.

ANIMALS

Amazing Video of Unseen Ocean Creatures in the Ningaloo Canyons

The Schmidt Ocean Institute recently explored the Ningaloo Canyons on the western coast of Australia using a robotic underwater vehicle called the ROV Sebastian. Check out the amazing video of what they discovered in the deep parts of the Indian Ocean.

More info: Youtube

ANIMALS

These Pics Are Art and the Artists Are Insects

Flying insects move so quickly that they are hard to follow, but new technology and some smart ideas have helped Spanish photographer Xavi Bou do just that. After spending 10 years focusing on birds in flight for his Ornithographies project, he turned his attention to insects.

For Entomographies, he uses high-speed video footage taken by Adrian Smith, an insect expert at North Carolina State University, to study and record how insects move. Bou then picks multiple frames and combines them into single images that show the fast movements of one or more insects through space and time.

With Smith’s help, Bou has captured the aerial tricks of wasps, the jumps of leafhoppers, and the fluttering of butterflies in amazing detail. He hopes that by doing this, he can make people more aware of the decline in important insect populations around the world.

1. Zebra longwing

This butterfly, which is common in many areas of the Americas, really fits its name. It can fly very high with just a few flaps of its large wings.