Cinereous Antshrike

The cinereous antshrike (Thamnomanes caesius) is an insectivorous bird in subfamily Thamnophilinae of family Thamnophilidae, the "typical antbirds". It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. == Taxonomy and systematics == The cinereous antshrike was described by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck in 1820 and given the binomial name Muscicapa caesius. It is now placed in the genus Thamnomanes which was introduced by the German ornithologist Jean Cabanis in 1847. The specific epithet caesius is the Latin for "bluish gray". The cinereous antshrike and the bluish-slate antshrike (T. schistogynus) were treated by some authors in the early twentieth century as conspecific. They now are considered a superspecies. The cinereous antshrike has these five subspecies: T. c. glaucus Cabanis, 1847 T. c. persimilis Hellmayr, 1907 T. c. simillimus Gyldenstolpe, 1951 T. c. hoffmannsi Hellmayr, 1906 T. c. caesius (Temminck, 1820) A few twentieth century authors treated T. c. glaucus and T. c. persimilis together as a species separate from the cinereous antshrike. == Description == The cinereous antshrike is 14 to 15 cm (5.5 to 5.9 in) long and weighs 16 to 18 g (0.56 to 0.63 oz). Adult males of the nominate…