Identification
Skinny antbird of bamboo stands. Males are dark gray or black with small white wing bars and white spots on the underside of the tail; females are gray below, brown above, looking dark overall, with faint buffy wing bars and spots on the underside of the tail. Almost always found in bamboo thickets. Listen for its distinctive song, a rubbery, bouncing “pook-cha-pook-cha-pook-cha.” Distinguished from the similar Gray Antbird by male’s nearly black plumage (not gray) and female’s grayer underparts (not uniformly brown). Males also are similar to Dot-winged Antwren, but are larger, with less white on the wing bars and slightly lighter overall plumage (not glossy black like the antwren).