Xingu Scale-backed Antbird Willisornis vidua Scientific name definitions

The Xingu Scale-backed Antbird is the eastern Amazonian counterpart of its more-widespread sister species: the Common Scale-backed Antbird (Willisornis poecilinotus). It is a medium-sized antbird of the understory of humid lowland forest that regularly attends swarms of army ants, feeding on insects that are attempting to escape the ants. Both the Common and Xingu scale-backed antbirds are similar in appearance, but they differ vocally in both their songs and calls.

In terms of plumage; there is actually more variation between the Xingu Scale-backed Antbird's subspecies than there is between the Common and Xingu scale-backed antbirds. Males of the western subspecies (nigrigula) have a black throat and upper breast (resembling males of the gutturalis subspecies of Common Scale-backed Antbird), whereas the throat of the eastern subspecies (vidua) is pale gray. Females of both subspecies are similar to one another; being dull brown above and pale gray below, similar to females of Common Scale-backed Antbird (griseiventris).