Specific Status and Behavior of Cymbilaimus Sanctaemariae, the Bamboo Antshrike, from Southwestern Amazonia
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SPECIFIC STATUS AND BEHAVIOR OF CYMBILAIMUS SANCTAEMARIAE, THE BAMBOO ANTSHRIKE, FROM SOUTHWESTERN AMAZONIA NINA PIERPONT• AND JOHN W. FITZPATRICK2 •Departmentof Biology,Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey08544 USA, and 2BirdDivision, Field Museum of Natural History,Roosevelt Road at LakeShore Drive, Chicago,Illinois 60605 USA ABs•'RACT.--Cymbilaimussanctaemariae (Formicariidae), previously regarded as a poorly known subspeciesof C. lineatus,is a distinct species.The two forms overlap broadly in geographicalrange and are distinct in morphology,plumage, voice, and habitat. We propose the vernacularname Bamboo Antshrike. The speciesapparently links Cymbilaimusand Tham- nophilus.It is a member of the growing list of bamboo-associatedbirds endemic to south- western Amazonia. Received2 August1982, accepted4 January1983. IN 1941 the Swedish taxonomist Gylden- departments of Madre de Dios and Cuzco, Peru stolpe described a new subspeciesof the Fas- (Fig. 1, sites 2, 3, and 4). At the month of the ciated Antshrike, Cymbilaimuslineatus sanctae- Rio Inambari (elev. approximately 280 m, mariae (Formicariidae), from five specimens 12ø41'S,69ø44'W; site 2), Blake collected both C. collected at a single locality in northern Boliv- sanctaemariae(•, FMNH #251823) and C. linea- ia. The recent discovery of the form at six sites tus intermedius(•, FMNH #251825). This re- in southeastern Peru and one in extreme west- mains the only locality for which co-occur- ern Brazil reveals that the range of sanctaemar- rence is documented by specimens. iae lies almost completely within that of C. l. In November 1981, while we were camped intermedius,the widespread Amazonian race of at 1,200 m on the bamboo- and forest-covered the Fasciated Antshrike. At three sites in the slopes of the Cosfiipata Valley, Dept. Cuzco, lowlands of the department of Madre de Dios, Peru ("Consuelo," ca. 13ø07'S,71ø15'W; site 5), Peru, we now know that the two forms occur a loud, ringing, unfamiliar call repeatedlydrew together. They are easily distinguishedby size, our attention to tall bamboo thickets. Taped plumage, and voice and differ as well in habitat playback attracted an agitated, singing, black- preference. For these reasons it is clear that and-white barred antshrike with a long black sanctaemariae must be elevated to the rank of crest held vertically erect. We immediately rec- full species.We propose for it the vernacular ognized this as a specieswe had seenand tape- name BambooAntshrike, reflecting its unusu- recorded,but failed to identify, in August 1980, ally restricted habitat preferences. also in dense bamboo, about 3 km east of Shin- tuya on the left bank of the Rio Alto Madre de DESCRIPTION Dios, Dept. Madre de Dios (elev. 420 m, ca. Distribution.--The holotype and four para- 12ø40'S,71ø15'W; site 6). C. lineatusoccurred as types of sanctaemariae(4 • and 1 $, Royal Mu- well at this locality but only in nearbytall, moist seumof Natural History, Stockholm)were col- tropical forest. This latter site represents the lected by A.M. Olalla in October 1937 at secondat which the two specieslive side by Victoria, at the confluence of the Rios Madre side. At Consuelowe collected five specimens de Dios and Beni, department of Pando, Bolivia of sanctaemariae(4 8 and 1 •, FMNH) but did (elev. 170 m, 10ø59'S,66ø10'W; Fig. 1, site 1) not locate any lineatus. (Gyldenstolpe 1941, 1945b). The specieswas The two speciesoccur together at the Ex- otherwise unknown until 1958, when E. R. plorer's Inn, Rio Tambopata, Dept. Madre de Blake collected three individuals (2 8 and 1 $, Dios (elev. 190 m, 12ø36'S,69ø11'W; site 8). T. Field Museum of Natural History) from three Parker (pers. comm.) has tape-recorded both sitesin the drainage of the Rio Madre de Dios, Cymbilaimusvoice types at this site (recordings 645 The Auk 100: 645-652. July 1983 646 PIERPONTAND FITZPATRICK [Auk,Vol. 100 U DOR ß• "'•, ./ø ;',• ,•-•' •'•'•, i ,.-.-.- , ',-..,' 8 ß *-'T .... ' ? . C. IJn a• ß I • ;• C.sanc•emariae- I %-' ", j • • • •,8' Fig. 1. Some localities in Peru, Bolivia, and western Brazil where C. sanctaemariae(circles) and C. lineatus (triangles)have been collectedor observed.C. lineatusalso occurs from Nicaraguato Ecuadorand Amazonian Brazil. Sources:specimens in AMNH, FMNH, LSUMZ, and CarnegieMuseum of Natural History (Zimmer 1932; Gyldenstolpe 1941, 1945a,b, 1951; Peters 1951; O'Neill 1974; pers. comm. from J. V. Remsenand T. Parker; pers. obs.by the authors). on file at Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology). zone in the Andean foothills does sanctaemariae He reportsthat sanctaemariaecalls are heard only apparently occurwithout its more widespread from dense bamboo stands near the Rio Tam- congener. C. lineatusreaches its upper eleva- bopata,whereas lineatusis generally found only tional limit at or below approximately1,000 m in higher-ground forest openings. (specimensin FMNH and LSUMZ; pers. obs.). Only one record takes sanctaemariaeout of We found sanctaemariaeup to 1,200 m at Con- the drainage basin of the Rio Madre de Dios. suelo, but it was absent at 1,300-1,400 m, de- A single female (Louisiana State University spite the presenceof ample bamboo habitat. Museum of Zoology, courtesyof J. V. Remsen) Morphology. Cymbilaimussanctaemariae is was collected by J. Hidasi in 1968 on the Rio smallerthan lineatusand hasa noticeablyshort- Acre in the state of Acre, Brazil (exact location er, more slenderbill (Table 1, Fig. 2). The mean unknown; near site 7). weight of 5 lineatusmist-netted at the Cocha The range of C. sanctaemariae,as presently Cashu Biological Station in the Manu National known, lies almost entirely within that of C. Park, Dept. Madre de Dios, Peru (elev. 380 m, lineatus(Fig. 1). Only along a thin elevational 11ø55'S,71ø18'W) was 38.5 g, while that of the July 1983] BambooAntshrike 647 TABLE1. Measurements(mm) of Cymbilaimussanctaemariae and three racesof C. lineatu5.a C. sanctaemariae(9)b C. I. intertnedius(46) C. I. fasciatus(20) C. I. lineatus(20) Character Mean SD Range Mean SD Range Mean SD Range Mean SD Range Bill length 13.4'** 0.4 12.9-14.0 14.6 0.5 13.6-15.9 15.3 0.8 13.9-16.8 14.9 0.5 13.6-16.1 Bill depth 7.6*** 0.2 7.4-7.8 8.9 0.4 8.1-9.6 9.1 0.2 8.5-9.4 9.0 0.4 8.4-9.8 Bill width 7.2*** 0.1 7.1-7.8 8.6 0.4 7.6-9.3 8.7 0.4 7.9-9.4 8.8 0.4 8.2-10.2 Wing length 71.4'* 2.5 69.6-75.6 74.6 2.8 70.8-83.0 74.2 2.8 70.3-80.1 74.0 2.4 70.0-78.5 Tail length 65.0** 3.8 59.5-67.9 68.0 2.6 61.4-73.4 69.1 3.2 64.5-75.6 69.4 3.3 63.7-75.6 Tarsus length 25.2n• 0.7 23.8-25.8 24.8 0.9 23.0-26.5 25.0 1.0 22.3-26.3 25.3 1.0 23.2-26.9 ' Sexespooled; bill lengthfrom tip toanterior edge of nasalopening, bill depthand width measured at anterioredge of nasalopening; sample sizes in parentheses. bSanctaemariaediffering from syrnpatric mtermed•us: *** P < 0.0005;** P < 0.01;ns, not significant. 5 sanctaemariae collected at Consuelo was 30.9 nearly equal in width, while on the back the g, a highly significantdifference (Table 2). In white bars are narrower or reduced to fine lines addition, nine sanctaemariaespecimens were on a black background.Both ventrally and dor- significantlysmaller on averagethan a repre- sally the barsare broaderand more sharplyde- sentative series of Amazonian lineatus interme- fined in sanctaemariaethan in lineatus(Fig. 2; dius in 5 out of 6 measurements (Table 1; tarsus Gyldenstolpe 1941, 1945b). lengths do not differ). Differencesbetween the A more distinctive character is the barring two speciesin bill dimensionsare highly sig- on the tail (Fig. 2). In males of all races of li- nificant (P < 0.0005 for each dimension) and neatusthe white bars are thin arching lines that for wing and tail only slightlyless so (P < 0.01). almost meet the central shaft on each rectrix. Differences between mensural characters in the In sanctaemariae these bars are short, broad three subspeciesof lineatusrarely are signifi- notches in both feather margins, never meet- cant at any level. In short, sanctaemariaeis far ing the central shaft. more different from lineatus than the three races As shown in Table 2, both males and females of Iineatus are from each other. In most men- of sanctaemariaehave extremely long crests, sural characters sanctaemariae lies outside of the much longer than in lineatus.In addition, the range of variation in lineatus. crests of sanctaemariaemales are completely Plumage.--The plumages of the two species black,with no white barring further back than of Cymbilaimusare unusually similar, but sev- the lores.C. lineatusmales always have fine bar- eral diagnosticcharacters do exist in both males ring on the forehead, often extending back and females.Gyldenstolpe (1941, 1945b) point- acrossthe crown to the nape. This is particu- ed out distinguishing features in the male larly true of C. lineatusfasciatus but occursas plumage, and he described the female sanctae- well in other subspecies. mariaein detail. Here, we shall briefly reiterate Plumagesof female lineatusand sanctaemariae these differences and describe one character, differ more substantiallythan those of males. the long crest, that Gyldenstolpe apparently In both speciesthe back and face are broadly overlooked. barred with black and reddish-buff (color #24; Males of both speciesare finely barred black color nomenclature from Smithe 1975). Below, and white above and below, except for the from chin to undertail coverts, lineatus females crown.