Tweet of the Day

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Factual: Science & Nature

Discover birds through their songs and calls. 265 programmes of 90 seconds, over a year

Discover birds through their songs and calls. Each Tweet of the Day begins with a call or song, followed by a story of fascinating ornithology inspired by the sound.

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Tweet of the Day 

Tweet of the Day: Plumbeous Antbird

Plumbeous Antbird

BBC Radio 4 - Tweet of the Day, Plumbeous Antbird

Chris Packham presents the Plumbeous antbird in a Bolivian rainforest.

Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.

Chris Packham presents the Plumbeous antbird in a Bolivian rainforest. When army ants go on the march in the Bolivian rainforest, they attract a huge retinue of followers; often heard but rarely seen. These include Antbirds. The Plumbeous Antbird is a lead-coloured bird; the males have a patch of blue skin around their eyes, whilst the females are bright russet below. Like other antbirds they are supreme skulkers, hiding under curtains of dense foliage and only betraying themselves by their calls and song, a particularly fluty call. But you'd think that with a name like antbirds, their diet is easily diagnosed, but surprisingly antbirds rarely eat ants. Instead, most species shadow the columns of army ants which often change nest-sites or raid other ant colonies. As the ants march across the forest floor, they flush insects and other invertebrates which are quickly snapped by the attendant antbirds.

Producer : Andrew Dawes

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