Myrmeciza fortis
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The sooty antbird (Hafferia fortis) is a species of bird in subfamily Thamnophilinae of family Thamnophilidae, the "typical antbirds". It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. The sooty antbird was described and illustrated by the English ornithologists Philip Sclater and Osbert Salvin in 1868 and given the binomial name Percnostola fortis. The species was later included in the genus Myrmeciza. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2013 found that Myrmeciza was polyphyletic. In the resulting rearrangement to create monophyletic genera, the sooty antbird was moved to the newly erected genus Hafferia.
The sooty antbird shares genus Hafferia with the blue-lored antbird (H. immaculata) and Zeledon's antbird (H. zeledoni). The sooty antbird is 17 to 19 cm (6.7 to 7.5 in) long and weighs 42 to 48 g (1.5 to 1.7 oz). Both sexes have a ring of light blue bare skin around their eye and a red iris. Adult males of the nominate subspecies are mostly very dark gray with a brown tinge on their wings and a seldom... Wikipedia →
Recording0:35
Peru · 2007
© dbeadle · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:46
Brazil · 2025
© Laura Gaudette · iNaturalist · CC BY 4.0
Recording0:22
Brazil · 2024
© Luciano Bernardes · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amacayacu National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 2 | Yasuní National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 3 | Manu National Park | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 4 | Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 5 | Tambopata National Reserve | 🇵🇪 Peru |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Sooty Antbird sighting in Manu National Park on a given day, based on 120 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 356th most-seen of the 641 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January, March and November
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Sooty Antbird in Manu National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February, April–October and December, the lowest months. Those are among Manu National Park's wettest months, with about 240 mm of rain a month against 60 mm in August.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Sooty Antbird sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 5
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Sooty Antbird sightings, Manu National Park ranks 3rd at under 5%. The best odds are in Amacayacu National Natural Park (Colombia, about 10%) and Yasuní National Park (Ecuador, under 5%).
Same genus: Myrmeciza
The closest relatives of the Sooty Antbird that you can see in Manu National Park (genus Myrmeciza) are Chestnut-tailed Antbird (about 20%), Black-throated Antbird (about 20%) and Goeldi's Antbird (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Sooty Antbird is recorded against all the birds logged in Manu National Park (120 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
