Clytoctantes is a South American genus of passerine birds in the antbird family, Thamnophilidae. They are medium sized, and males are grey or black and females are mainly rufous. The stubby, hefty bill has a distinctly upcurved lower mandible and a straight culmen (a large version of the bills of the recurvebills), which possibly is a modification for opening bamboo stems in their search for insects.

It comprises two species: the recurve-billed bushbird (Clytoctantes alixii) and the Rondônia bushbird (Clytoctantes atrogularis). Both species inhabit dense, lowland and foothill forests, C. alixii in the northern Andes and C. atrogularis in the Brazilian Amazon.

The two species were feared to be extinct or nearly so, until both were rediscovered in 2004. Monitoring was subsequently conducted between 2014 and 2017, confirming that they remained. They are facing the threat of habitat destruction and enhanced conservation efforts are essential to ensure their long-term survival.

The genus Clytoctantes belongs to the family Thamnophilidae, a diverse and extensive clade of New World suboscine passerines often called antbirds. Thamnophilidae contains approximately 200 species spread across 63 genera, most of which inhabit tropical forest undergrowth and track swarms of army-ant to dine on insects caught there. Within this family, Clytoctantes is grouped alongside the genus Neoctantes in the tribe Microrhopiini (subfamily Thamnophilinae), a lineage characterized by the presence of robust bills adapted for probing into woody stems and bamboo culms.

Daniel Giraud Elliot erected the genus Clytoctantes in 1870, and the recurve-billed bushbird, Clytoctantes alixii, was designated as the type species. Clytoctantes alixii retains the original binomial and authority and is readily recognized by its unique upward-curved bill. The second species, Clytoctantes atrogularis, was described many years later by Lanyon, Stotz, and Willard in 1991, based on a holotype from the interfluvial forests of Rondônia, Brazil.

Clytoctantes is a genus in the antbird family (Thamnophilidae) found in South America. Males of this genus are predominantly black, while females typically have reddish-brown or chestnut-colored plumage. The genus includes two recognized species: the recurve-billed bushbird (Clytoctantes alixii) and the Rondônia bushbird (Clytoctantes atrogularis).

These birds are medium-sized and sexually dimorphic, with a distinctive, robust, laterally compressed black bill. The lower mandible is sharply upturned, giving the bill a unique shape. The strong resemblance in bill structure and size between Clytoctantes alixii and Clytoctantes atrogularis suggests a shared evolutionary lineage. Their chestnut-colored plumage further supports their classification within the Clytoctantes genus. The holotype of Clytoctantes atrogularis is generally larger than the examined female specimens of Clytoctantes alixii, with a notably longer tail. While Clytoctantes atrogularis has an entirely black bill, preserved specimens of Clytoctantes alixii show pale markings on the bill.

Both species were once thought to be at risk of extinction, but they were rediscovered in 2004. Subsequent monitoring efforts took place between 2014 and 2017, confirming their continued existence.