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Ocellated Antbird is one of the most sought-after species for birders visiting central
Panama. It is an ant-swarm obligate, meaning it is always found on the edge of huge army ant swarms,
feeding on insects driven from cover by the onrushing ant horde. It is usually found in small numbers if at all,
so it was a special treat to find several individuals at a single ant swarm on Pipeline Road in July of 2005; in one shining
moment Mike Manetz had three Ocellated Antbirds in his binocular view! I lingered behind the group to collect some footage, which is
a bit dark but really quite striking given the skulking habits of the species. Note the bright blue orbital skin
around the eye, a characteristic shared by a number of the deep-forest antbirds. My theory is that this feature evolved in these species
to help gather light on the dark jungle floor.
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