The Dot-winged Antwren or Velvety Antwren, Microrhopias quixensis, is part of the antbird family.
Distribution / Range
It occurs naturally in tropical Central and South America from southeastern Mexico south to western Ecuador, northern Bolivia and central Brazil. It inhabits the understory of wet forest, especially at edges and clearings, tall second growth, and is also found in cacao plantations.
Breeding / Nesting
The female lays two brown-spotted white eggs which are incubated by both sexes, in a small, deep, plant fibre and dead leaf cup nest 1-12 m high in a tree on a thin twig in thick foliage.
Both the male and the female raise the chicks.
Description
The Dot-winged Antwren measures about 11 cm in length and weighs about 8.5 g.
The adult male has a mostly velvety black plumage, with a broad white wing bar and white spots on the wing coverts.
The female has a slate upper plumage and is rufous-colored below. She also has the same wing pattern that can be seen on the male.
Juveniles are sooty-brown above, shading to dull cinnamon below. The plumage below is more extensive and more rufous in young females.
Calls / Vocalizations
Its call is described as a whistled peep, and its song as an ascending whistle and trill, chee chee chee-che-che-chr,r,r,r.
Diet / Feeding
The Dot-winged Antwren is found as pairs or family groups, and sometimes with other antwrens as part of a mixed-species feeding flock It feeds on small insects and other arthropods taken from twigs and foliage in the thickets or vine tangles. It is often seen foraging in more exposed positions than its relatives.
