The great antshrike (Taraba major) is a passerine bird in subfamily Thamnophilinae of family Thamnophilidae, the "typical antbirds". It is found in southern Mexico, in every Central American country except El Salvador, on Trinidad, and in every mainland South American country except Chile, though only as a vagrant in Uruguay.

Taxonomy and systematics

The great antshrike was described by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1816 and given the binomial name Thamnophilus major. The current genus Taraba was introduced by the French naturalist René Lesson in 1831.

The great antshrike has these ten subspecies: The subspecies' vocalizations fall into two groups, T. m. melanocrissus through T. m. granadensis and T. m. semifasciatus through T. m. major. The first, found in Central America and mostly west of the Andes, may represent a separate species from the other, which are found east of the Andes. In addition, differences within the members of each group may not be significant enough in some cases to warrant subspecies status.

Description

The great antshrike is a large and distinctive bird, long and weighing . The species exhibits significant sexual dimorphism, though both sexes of all subspecies have a large crest, a red iris, and a heavy black bill with a hook at the end like true shrikes. Adult males of the nominate subspecies T. m. major have a black head with the color extending to below the eye. Their upperparts are mostly black with a usually hidden white patch between the scapulars. Their wings are black with large white spots on the coverts that appear as bars when perched and white edges on the primaries. Their tail is black with white spots on the outer feathers. Their throat, chin, and the rest of their underparts are white with a gray tinge on the flanks. Adult females have a rufous crown and browner lores and ear coverts. Their upperparts are reddish yellow-brown, their wings reddish yellow-brown with paler feather edges, and their tail is rufous. Their chin, throat, and center of their breast are white; their crissum is light cinnamon, and the rest of their underparts are white with a cinnamon tinge. Juveniles have cinnamon or buff barring on their upper- and underparts that remains faintly in subadults.

The other subspecies of the great antshrike differ from the nominate and each other thus:

  • T. m. melanocrissus: black on male's face extends lower and male's crissum is black
  • T. m. obscurus: males like melanocrissus but with white tips on the crissum feathers; females more richly colored
  • T. m. transandeanus: males like obscurus but with more white on the crissum; females even more richly colored
  • T. m. granadensis: black on male's face similar to nominate and much white on the black crissum; females similar to transandeanus
  • T. m. stagurus: males have the most white on the primaries and tail and least gray on the underparts of all subspecies; females are the palest of all
  • T. m. semifasciatus: males have a little less white on the primaries and tail than stagurus and a deeper gray crissum than nominate
  • T. m. duidae: males resemble semifasciatus with a little more white; female is darker than most with faint blackish streaks and bars on the underparts
  • T. m. melanurus: males have an all black tail, white flanks, and white crissum
  • T. m. borbae: males have a moderate amount of white on wings and tail and a light gray crissum

Distribution and habitat

The subspecies of the great antshrike are distributed thus: