| Dot-winged Antwren is the most easily and frequently seen member of its family, at least in central Panama, although its very abundance can lead birders to overlook less-common lookalikes such as White-flanked Antwren. They're tiny and quite active, but so common that one is bound to capture images with a bit of persistence, as evidenced by these nice shots presented below. |
| This species is sexually dimorphic, with the females having a lovely, deep orange breast. The image below, of a female Dot-winged Antwren, was captured on a subsequently damaged tape, as evidenced by the slight digital streaking above the bird- I'm thankful the image survived as well as it did! |
| Female Dot-winged Antwrens have provided me with a great deal of entertainment during my many sightings of this species. I have seen females engaging in some sort of display in which they puff up the feathers on their back and spread their wings and tail feathers, all the while hopping about and vocalizing wildly. I hope to capture clean video of this display some day. When I filmed the individual pictured below, part of a large mixed flock on Semaphore Hill in January of 2007, she was grappling with a large and vigorously struggling caterpillar. This struck me as an ambitious meal for the small antwren, a specialist that generally gleans small insects from the nooks and crannies of dead leaves. |
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