Klages's Antbird (Klages's Antwren)

Locally fairly common in suitable bamboo and dense undergrowth but patchily distributed and easy to overlook; a sought-after bamboo specialist. More often heard than seen.

Small, long, white-tipped-tailed antbird, ~15 cm. Male: head, back and breast streaked black-and-white, rufous rump and belly, wings with white spots and wingbars. Female: similarly streaked below but with rufous back and crown, also showing rufous rump and belly. The white-tipped tail, streaky black-and-white front and rufous rear/belly are diagnostic.

Bamboo thickets, vine tangles and dense shrubby undergrowth at humid forest borders and second growth; in Venezuela ~500-1,500 m (to ~1,800 m on the Colombian Perija slope). Found in the Coastal Range, the Andean/Lara foothills, and the Serrania del Perija.

Pairs work actively through dense bamboo and tangles, gleaning insects low to mid-height, often with the tail cocked; stays in cover but responds well to playback by approaching the edge of a thicket.

Male song 2 clear rhythmic notes then 2 wheezy, asthmatic phrases - 'chuet, chuet, pa-FJEEE-jit, pa-FJEEE-jit'; the female may add a soft descending 'tu, tu, tu, to, to' partway through; also raspy calls. Search Xeno-canto / Macaulay Library under 'Drymophila klagesi' or 'Klages's Antbird'.

Find bamboo and you find the bird: scan for stands of Chusquea/Guadua bamboo at humid forest edge, listen for the distinctive 'chuet chuet pa-FJEEE-jit' song, then use brief playback to draw the pair toward the thicket edge for views. Cocked-tail movement low in the bamboo is the giveaway.