Hormiguero Lúgubre vs Hormiguero Carinegro

The Ash-breasted Antbird and Black-faced Antbird can be distinguished primarily by their plumage. The male Ash-breasted Antbird has a black face and throat with gray upperparts, while the Black-faced Antbird is known for its distinctive black face and throat but lacks the gray upperparts. Females of both species differ in coloration as well.

Look for the gray upperparts in male Ash-breasted Antbirds, which are absent in Black-faced Antbirds. Note the warm buffy-brown coloration in female Ash-breasted Antbirds, which can help differentiate them from female Black-faced Antbirds.

Male Ash-breasted Antbirds are gray above with a black face and throat, contrasting with whitish gray underparts. Female Ash-breasted Antbirds are warm buffy-brown above with pale-spotted wing coverts and sometimes a dark mask. Black-faced Antbirds, both male and female, have a black face and throat, but the notes do not specify further plumage details for comparison.

Both species forage close to the ground and may join mixed-species flocks, although the Black-faced Antbird occasionally follows army ant swarms.

Ash-breasted Antbirds are found in the understory of lowland evergreen forests along rivers, especially on white-water river islands and vine-tangled black-water várzea. The habitat preference for Black-faced Antbirds is not specified in the notes.