Identification
A common but inconspicuous bird of tepui forest canopy. Usually seen from below; note long shape accentuated by heavy bill and long tail. Male is gray above and white below, with a black crown, bold white eyebrow, wing spotting, and extensively white undertail. Females are similar to males but have more brown tones in plumage. Forages sluggishly in canopy of tepui foothill forest, searching for insects along branches and in leaf clusters. More common at lower elevations than many other tepui endemics (sometimes below 500 m). Usually in pairs and best detected by voice; often follows mixed-species flocks but also found away from them. Contact call is a rubbery smacking, often doubled and repeated in long series by members of a pair. Song is a hoarse, emphatic series of laughing notes, decelerating and dropping slightly in pitch. Similar to Spot-tailed and Todd’s antwrens (and may overlap with latter at lower elevations) but substantially larger, with bolder markings and more white in tail; song is similar to that of Todd’s but longer and hoarser.