Ant-following birds of Central America
A primer on the dozens of bird species that follow ant swarms in the jungle, many of which have names that are frustratingly similar.
Brian Magnier is a birder and naturalist who studied ecology and evolutionary biology at Cornell University. He has done fieldwork on a wide range of animals around the world, including broadbills and pittas in Borneo and fairywrens in Papua New Guinea. His photos and articles have been published in Natural History Magazine, Sierra, BBC Wildlife, Tampa Bay Magazine, and Malaysian Naturalist, among others. In our May/June 2019 issue, he wrote about the joys of watching butterflies.
Brian Magnier on social media
A primer on the dozens of bird species that follow ant swarms in the jungle, many of which have names that are frustratingly similar.
Army ants cornered a birding group along Pipeline Road in Panama, leading to a bevy of sightings of antbirds, puffbirds, tinamou, and more.