Fasciated Antshrike

How to find it

Listen first for the chatter and the sliding whistle, because it mostly stays high in dense vegetation. Then scan vine tangles beside trails: on one tour a pair was seen at close range right beside a La Selva trail, collecting nest material from such a tangle. A local guide also says to watch for it in vine tangles. If an army ant swarm is active, check the birds that attend it. On the south Caribbean coast near Playa Chiquita, dense plants at the entrance of a lodge often hold it, and a local naturalist guide is offered for birding there.

How to recognise it

Start with size and shape. This is a large, heavy-bodied antshrike, about 17 to 18 cm long, with a heavy bill that has a clearly hooked tip.

Both sexes have red eyes.

The male has a black crown and black plumage finely barred with white. He is barred below, too.

The female has a rusty crown and brown and buff barring.

The male's black cap is often raised as a crest, which gives the head a distinctive shape when he is alert.

What it sounds like

Recording: River Ahlquist, CC BY 4.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

It is generally sluggish, so a bird that has been located may sit still for a while. It hunts mostly large insects in the forest midstory, roughly 5 to 20 m above the ground.

Its diet also includes spiders, small lizards, frogs and a little fruit.

You will often find it alone or in pairs, and it also joins mixed-species flocks. Birders who follow army ant swarms in search of antbirds will find it listed among the birds that visit swarms on a Costa Rica trip.

Where it lives

It lives in tangled, dense midstory vegetation of humid lowland forest. It is usually found below 800 m and only rarely up to 1,600 m.

In Central America it is more common in secondary forest, though both primary and secondary evergreen forest are used.

In Costa Rica it occurs on the Caribbean slope only. It has been recorded on the Sendero Bogarín trail in Alajuela province, in the northern Caribbean lowlands, and at La Selva Biological Station, and it also turns up on the south Caribbean coast.

When to see it

Breeding in Costa Rica runs from April to June.

Similar birds

Bamboo Antshrike is very similar, but Fasciated is larger, has a bright red eye and is not tied to bamboo stands. Where they overlap, Fasciated stays at lower elevations. Male Bamboo is paler, female Bamboo has unbarred underparts, and the songs differ: Bamboo gives loud, ringing metallic tchink notes, unlike the lazy whistles of Fasciated. Barred Antshrike prefers more open, scrubby places, is generally much easier to see and does not go into forest interior.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

In Costa Rica the bird is called batará lineado, and botará lineado is another spelling given for the country. Elsewhere it is also called hormiguero lineado, batará franjeado and batará capirotado.

Status and conservation

The AOCR list marks it as a resident (R), and the IUCN rates it Least Concern, though it is rare to uncommon in parts of Costa Rica.

Photography tips

Check vine tangles beside trails. A pair was seen at close range collecting nest material from one at La Selva, so patience at a promising tangle can pay off. Follow the whistle to find the right spot, then wait for the bird to show itself.