Habitat
Understorey and middle storey várzea (seasonally flooded forest), gallery forest and cerrado (dry savanna woodland). Also, though less commonly, upland forest and mangroves.
Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).
Status NT
Habitat destruction and degradation through accelerating deforestation in the Amazon basin as land is cleared for cattle ranching and soy production, facilitated by expansion of the road network, is the main threat.
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.
Blackish-grey Antshrike (Thamnophilus nigrocinereus) [XC690807]
by Peter Boesman from Igarap\u00e9 Buritizal, Ilha do Curu\u00e1, Arquip\u00e9lago do Bailique, Macap\u00e1, Amap\u00e1, Brazil (song)
Blackish-grey Antshrike (Thamnophilus nigrocinereus) [XC240739]
by Guy Kirwan from Portel, Portel, Par\u00e1, Brazil (song)
Subspecies
Forms a superspecies with Castelnau's Antshrike (Thamnophilus cryptoleucus) and formerly considered conspecific. Subspecies distinctive in plumage. Furthermore, differences among them in calls, and also the possibility that Amazonian subspecies may meet each other without intergradation, require study.
The following 5 subspecies are recognised:
cinereoniger Pelzeln, 1868 - North-eastern Colombia, south-western Venezuela and north-western Amazonian Brazil (drainages of, respectively, R Meta, upper R Orinoco, and lower R Uaupés and R Negro).
tschudii Pelzeln, 1868 - West-central Brazil (eastern Amazonas along lower R Madeira).
huberi Snethlage, E, 1907 - East-central Brazil (western Pará along lower R Tapajós).
nigrocinereus Sclater, 1855 - Eastern Brazil from near mouth of R Tapajós along lower R Amazon and surrounding rivers east to Amapá and islands in estuary.
kulczynskii (Domaniewski & Stolzmann, 1922) - Eastern French Guiana and adjacent Brazil (extreme northern Amapá).
BirdLife International Species Factsheet