Glossy Antshrike Gallery

Sakesphorus luctuosus

The Birds of the World website offers these introductory words about the Glossy Antshrike:  Endemic to Brazil, the bulky-bodied Glossy Antshrike is found from south-central to southeast Amazonia, where it inhabits lowland riverine forest, below 250 m, including seasonally flooded areas. It reaches its easternmost limits in the valley of the Rio Araguaia, in Tocantins, Mato Grosso, and Goiás, from where a separate subspecies has been described, based on the narrower white tail tips and broader white edges to the scapulars, but it is unclear whether such variation really merits nomenclatural recognition. The sexes are similar in being principally glossy black, becoming slightly paler ventrally, with white scapular fringes, which may be more or less obvious, but females are ‘topped off’ by a ‘shaggy’ chestnut-brown crown that makes them readily distinguished from their partners. The loudsong is strident and frequently heard, and the birds can be bold in response to playback, although in general Glossy Antshrikes remain hidden in the lower stories of the vegetation.

I saw and photographed my first Glossy Antshrike on the morning of August 19, 2023 in the Amazon Basin Region of Brazil.  Our small group with Jeff Parker Tours was at Southwild’s Fazenda São Nicolau located on the Juruena River west of Alta Floresta.  That morning we were up early for a boat ride on the river when we spotted a male Glossy Antshrike in a tree near the river.  For a more detailed description of the trip that included my sighting of this bird look at this blog post.  Here are some of my photos of this unique bird.