Northern White-fringed Antwren Formicivora intermedia is split from Southern White-fringed (formerly White-fringed) Antwren F. grisea (Clements 2007:297)

Summary: Though males look similar, females do not and the songs of the Northern White-fringed Antwren differ dramatically from the genetically distinct Southern White-fringed Antwren.

Details: As early as 1913, at least two of the northern group of taxa were described as subspecies of the former White-fringed Antwren F. grisea (e.g., Peters 1951), though with considerable uncertainty even then as to species limits largely due to the marked differences in female plumage between taxa (Cory 1913, Chapman 1914). Vocal differences have long been noted leading to suggestions that more than one species is involved (Ridgely and Tudor 1994, Zimmer and Isler 2003, Boesman 2016 [No. 46]) and some authors split the intermedia group of subspecies from the grisea group (Hilty 2003, 2021, Gill and Wright (2006, IOC v.1.0), del Hoyo and Collar 2016). Genomic data now confirm that Formicivora intermedia and F. grisea are deeply diverged genetically (Harvey et al. 2020), and thus WGAC and Clements et al. (2023) agree with Hilty (2003, 2021), HBW and BirdLife International (2022), and Gill and Wright (2006, IOC v.1.0) in recognizing the Formicivora intermedia complex as specifically distinct. A proposal is needed for SACC action.

English names: For English names, regional modifiers are compounded with “White-fringed”, as in sources as long ago as Hilty (2003) and Gill and Wright (2006, IOC v.1.0), and as previously used group names in eBird.