Great Antshrike
A species of Great Antshrike Scientific name : Taraba major Genus : Great Antshrike
Great Antshrike, A species of Great Antshrike
Botanical name: Taraba major
Genus: Great Antshrike
Content
Description General Info
Photo By Hector Bottai , used under CC-BY-SA-3.0 /Cropped and compressed from original 
Description
The great antshrike is a large and distinctive antbird, typically 20.3 cm (about 8 inches) long, and weighs 56 g. It has a crest, heavy hooked bill, and brilliant red eyes. The adult male has black upperparts, with two white wingbars and white underparts. There is a white dorsal patch normally concealed except in threat display; young males are similar to the adult, but have rufous wing coverts. The female has rich rufous upperparts and white underparts. 
Size
20 cm
Nest Placement
Cavity
Feeding Habits
Great Antshrike primarily preys on insects, including various arthropods, snails, and mollusks. It also occasionally consumes small vertebrates such as lizards, frogs, tadpoles, minnows, and small mammals, supplemented with some vegetable matter. This bird employs a foraging method where it actively hunts and flushes out prey from its hiding spots. It has a diverse diet and unique adaptations for pursuing a variety of prey items.
Habitat
Great Antshrike typically dwells in a variety of dense vegetation environments, often preferring regions where thickets, secondary growth, and the understorey of forested areas provide ample cover. These birds are highly adaptable, inhabiting environments ranging from deciduous caatinga woodlands to swampy savanna woodlands and the shrubby fringes of gallery forests, mostly at elevations below 1000 meters but sometimes found up to 2200 meters. They are also known to occupy human-altered landscapes, such as cocoa and citrus plantations or gardens, making use of the dense undergrowth these areas provide.
Dite type
Insectivorous
General Info
Feeding Habits
Bird food type
Behavior
The female lays two, sometimes three, grey-marked white eggs in a deep cup nest in a shrub, which are incubated by both sexes for 14 days to hatching. The chicks fledge in another 12 days. The great antshrike feeds on insects and other arthropods gleaned from foliage. It will also take small lizards and mammals. It is a skulking species, which may be located by its song, 30 to 40 musical pook-pook-pook notes, or a snarled churrrr. Sleeping birds are readily located at sites such as the Asa Wright Nature Centre on Trinidad.
Distribution Area
This is a bird of thickets, cocoa and citrus plantations and sometimes gardens, with a preference for dense undergrowth. It is usually found as territorial pairs.
Species Status
Not globally threatened.
Scientific Classification
Phylum
Chordates Class
Birds Order
Perching birds Family
Antbirds Genus
Great Antshrike Species
Great Antshrike 
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