Guianan Streaked-Antwren

The Guianan streaked antwren is 9 to 10.5 cm (3.5 to 4.1 in) long and weighs 7.5 to 9 g (0.26 to 0.32 oz). It is a smallish bird with a tiny tail. Adult males have a black and white streaked face. Their crown, back, and rump are black with thin white streaks. They have a large white patch between the shoulders. Their tail is black with white edges and tips to the feathers. Their wings are black with white tips on the coverts and white edges on the flight feathers. Their throat, breast, and belly are white and their flanks and crissum gray. Black streaks extend from the throat to the flanks and belly. Adult females have an orange-buff face and cinnamon-rufous crown and nape with black streaks. Their belly and crissum have a buff tinge; their underparts are mostly plain but may have fine streaks on the breast and sides.

The Guianan streaked antwren is found from extreme eastern Colombia east through southern Venezuela and the Guianas and northern Brazil. It occurs only north and east of the Rio Negro and the Amazon River. It inhabits the understorey and mid-storey of lowland evergreen forest (primarily várzea and igapó) and shrubby secondary forest. It occurs almost entirely near water, in thickets and vine tangles by rivers, streams, and ponds, and in French Guiana also in mangroves. It occasionally is found in large clearings and shrubby forest borders away from water. In elevation it ranges from sea level to 450 m (1,500 ft).

The Guianan streaked antwren feeds on arthropods, especially insects and probably also spiders. It typically forages singly or in pairs and briefly, but seldom, joins mixed-species feeding flocks. It mostly feeds between about 1 and 15 m (3 and 50 ft) above the ground or water. It actively seeks prey among leaves and vine tangles and along branches, gleaning by reaching, lunging, and with brief sallies from a perch.