Animalia Life

Myrmecocichla aethiops
TAXONOMY
Myrmecocichla aethiops Cabanis, 1850, Senegal.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Northern anteater chat; French: Traquet brun; German: Ameisenschmдtzer; Spanish: Hormiguero.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
7.1 in (18 cm); male 1.8–2.3 oz (51–66 g); female 1.7–2.0 oz (47–58 g). Dark, sooty-brown plumage with black bill and legs. White wing patches are conspicous during flight.
DISTRIBUTION
Narrow band across Africa south of Sahara from Senegal to Sudan, locally southern Kenya and extreme northern Tanzania.
HABITAT
Open grassy ground with termite mounds and scattered bushes.
BEHAVIOR
Usually in pairs or small groups, often 5–15 scattered over a small area, perched on bushes, mounds of earth or termite mounds.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Insects, especially moths, and termites, beetles, spiders, and some fruits.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Mostly monogamous but cooperative groups assist at some nests; pairs remain together for several years. Nests in tunnel up to 5 ft (1.5 m) long, dug by both sexes in the side of an earth bank, termite mound, or within an animal burrow; two to five eggs, incubated only by female for 14–16 days; young fledge after 21–23 days.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not threatened.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
None known.

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