Parmoptila woodhousei
Woodhouse's Antpecker (Parmoptila woodhousei) is a diminutive and often cryptic passerine belonging to the Estrildidae family, the waxbills and estrildid finches. Measuring approximately 11 cm in length and weighing a mere 8-12 grams, this small bird exhibits subtle yet distinctive plumage. Males typically boast a rich chestnut crown and nape, contrasting with a grey back, wings, and tail, and pristine white underparts often flecked with white spotting on the flanks. Females share a similar p...
This species primarily inhabits lowland primary and dense secondary rainforests, often favoring areas near swamps, rivers, or clearings, from sea level up to around 1,000 meters.
The diet consists predominantly of small insects, including ants (though they eat those flushed by driver ants, not the ants themselves), beetles, termites, and spiders, supplemented occasionally by small seeds. They forage by gleaning flushed prey from vegetation and the ground.
Woodhouse's Antpecker is a diurnal and highly specialized insectivore, predominantly known for its fascinating habit of following swarms of driver ants (Dorylinae). Rather than consuming the ants themselves, it deftly preys on the numerous insects, spiders, and other small invertebrates flushed o...
Woodhouse's Antpecker is a resident species found across a significant portion of Central and West Africa, with a generally continuous distribution. The nominate subspecies, *Parmoptila woodhousei woodhousei*, inhabits a broad belt stretching from southern Nigeria eastward through Cameroon, the C...
Least Concern
- Woodhouse's Antpecker is one of the few passerine species in Africa known to regularly follow army ant swarms to forage. - Despite its name, the Antpecker doesn't eat the army ants themselves, but rather the fleeing insects and arthropods disturbed by the ant columns. - Its extremely slender, p...