The Mayan antthrush is a species of bird in the family Formicariidae. It is found in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico.
Region
Mesoamerica (Yucatán and northern Central America)
Typical Environment
Occurs in lowland and foothill tropical forests of southeastern Mexico (especially the Yucatán Peninsula), Belize, northern Guatemala, and parts of northern Honduras. It occupies mature evergreen and semi-deciduous forest and well-developed secondary growth with deep leaf litter. Most activity is on shaded forest floors, ravines, and karstic limestone terrain. It avoids open areas and heavily degraded edges but may use dense understory along riparian corridors.
Altitude Range
0–800 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
A shy, ground-dwelling antthrush of the Maya region, it spends most of its time walking quietly through leaf litter and is more often heard than seen. Its ventriloquial, hollow song can make it seem farther away or in a different direction than it really is. It occasionally attends army-ant swarms to snatch flushed arthropods and is sensitive to heavy forest disturbance and fragmentation.
Temperament
shy and skulking
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats low to the ground
Social Behavior
Usually solitary or in pairs, maintaining territories year-round. Nests are placed on or near the ground, with both sexes likely involved in territory defense. Courtship and pair-bonding are discreet, and birds keep to dense cover.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
A series of hollow, ventriloquial notes that may accelerate or slightly rise and then fall, carrying far through forest understory. Also gives soft whistles and quiet contact notes from hidden perches.
Plumage
Compact, round-bodied antthrush with rich brown upperparts and rufescent to olive-brown underparts; short tail and long legs. The throat is pale buff, bordered by a darker, necklace-like band across the upper breast. Feathers appear smooth and unbarred, giving a clean, uniform look.
Diet
Primarily feeds on ants, beetles, spiders, and other leaf-litter arthropods, gleaned or snapped up from the ground. It also takes small caterpillars and other invertebrates and will occasionally seize tiny vertebrates. The species may opportunistically attend army-ant swarms to capture flushed prey.
Preferred Environment
Forages on shaded forest floors with deep leaf litter, along fallen logs, and in root tangles. It favors intact understory with minimal disturbance and uses dense thickets near streams or sinkholes on karst terrain.
