ant-thrushn.
/ˈantˌθrʌʃ/, U.S. /ˈæntˌθrəʃ/ Any of various insectivorous passerine birds of tropical and subtropical forests, similar to a thrush in size, many of which feed on insects disturbed by swarms of army ants: spec. (a) an antbird of Central and South America, esp. any of the ground-feeding antbirds belonging to the genera Formicarius and Chamaeza (to which the family Formicariidae is now usually restricted; cf. antbird n. at ant n.1 Compounds 2); (b) either of two birds of the genus Neocossyphus (family Turdidae) of forests in central Africa.Some 19th-cent. authors used the name for broad groups encompassing not only antbirds (now family Thamnophilidae) but also pittas (family Pittidae; cf. quot. 1894).
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the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > family Muscicapidae (thrushes, etc.) > subfamily Turdinae > [noun] > genus Neocossyphus (ant-thrush)
ant-thrush1783
ant-catcher1996
1783 J. Latham Gen. Synopsis Birds II. i. 87 The Ant Thrush..is said to have a tremulous note, ending in a sharp short cry.
1863 H. W. Bates Naturalist on River Amazons I. i. 14 Ant-thrushes, a tribe of plainly-coloured birds, intermediate in structure between flycatchers and thrushes.
1894 Auk 11 63 Few groups of birds present greater beauty of plumage than the Pittidæ or Ant-Thrushes.
1945 Wilson Bull. 57 122 In the lofty forests of the lowlands of Costa Rica and Panama, one of the most distinctive bird notes is the mellow, resonant whistle, usually twice repeated, of the ant-thrush (Formicarius analis).
2008 Ecol. Applic. 18 854/2 Just one out of five specialized ant-followers, the White-tailed Ant Thrush, was extinct in small forest fragments.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2016; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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