Rufous-tailed Antbird

The rufous-tailed antbird is 13 to 14 cm (5.1 to 5.5 in) long. Adult males have a black crown, a white supercilium, a black band through the eye, and white cheeks with black speckles. Their back is olive-brown with black spots and a white patch between the scapulars. Their rump and tail are rufous. Their flight feathers are rufous and wing coverts black with white tips. Their throat and breast are white with black spots that are larger on the latter. Their flanks and crissum are plain rufous-brown. Females have a rufous-brown crown and nape with blackish streaks. They have a whitish supercilium, a dark brown line through the eye, and buff cheeks. Their upperparts, wings, and tail are similar to the male's but without black spots and the interscapular patch. Their throat and underparts are buff with some faint dark marks on the throat and breast.

The rufous-tailed antbird has a disjunct distribution in southeastern Brazil, in southeastern Minas Gerais, southern Espírito Santo, northeastern São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. It primarily inhabits bamboo stands in montane evergreen forest though it also occurs in adjoining viny plots and other dense foliage. In elevation it mostly occurs between 1,150 and 2,200 m (3,800 and 7,200 ft) though it is found as low as 800 m (2,600 ft).

The rufous-tailed antbird feeds mostly on a wide variety of arthropods. It typically forages individually, in pairs, and in family groups, usually within about 3 m (10 ft) of the ground and rarely as high as 7 m (25 ft). It sometimes joins mixed-species feeding flocks that pass through its territory and rarely follows army ant swarms. It gleans prey from leaves both live and dead, vines, and stems by reaching and lunging from a perch.