Rufous-breasted Antthrush

How to find it

Start with your ears, because the two-note whistle is far easier to find than the bird. Early morning visits work better: one birder walked the Arboles Caidos trail at Tapanti in sunny weather in the least birdy part of the day, saw very little and did not even hear one. Arboles Caidos is a steep trail known as a place for this antthrush, and one group first heard it there, then waited patiently and watched it cross the forest floor. Braulio Carrillo National Park has similar forest where it calls, but the drive has few trails or stopping places, so visitors there mostly hear it from the road.

How to recognise it

Look for a chunky, short-tailed bird walking on the forest floor like a chicken.

The underparts are entirely rufous, unlike other antthrushes in its genus, though that colour can be hard to see in dark forest. The face and throat are blackish. A bluish white ring of bare skin circles the eye. The crown and nape are dark chestnut.

In dim light the dark face, the pale eye ring and the strutting walk are the details to watch for.

What it sounds like

Recording: Niels Krabbe, CC BY-SA 4.0, source, read 5 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

It is usually seen alone or in pairs in the forest, and it occasionally joins army ant swarms. It can strut across the forest floor in a chicken-like way.

Watching it can be a small comedy. On one Tapanti tour an antthrush in a roadside tree seemed to have just disturbed a stinging ant nest, because it paused every couple of steps to scratch its backside. Another group found one by ear, waited patiently, and watched it walk across the open forest floor.

Where it lives

In Costa Rica this antthrush lives on the Caribbean slope. Its range starts in southern Guanacaste Province and continues south into Panama. Here it is recorded between about 800 and 1,800 m elevation.

Across its range it lives in humid to wet primary forest and mature secondary forest. It prefers ravines, regrown landslide scars and steep slopes.

Similar birds

It usually occurs at higher elevations than Black-faced and Black-headed Antthrushes. Its two-note whistled song also differs strongly from theirs, so voice is the quickest way to tell them apart.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

The Costa Rican Spanish name is Gallito Hormiguero Pechicastaño.

Status and conservation

The official Costa Rican list gives it resident (R) status, one of three antthrushes on that list, and the IUCN rates it Least Concern.

Photography tips

At Tapanti one birder found an antthrush by ear and then waited patiently. It walked across the forest floor in the open, yet stayed hidden from the photographer, though everyone had great views. Listen first, wait where you hear it, and expect dark, steep forest.