White-throated woodcreeper

Xiphocolaptes albicollis

Photo by Sidnei Recco (Panoramio)

Common name:
white-throated woodcreeper (en); arapaçu-de-garganta-branca (pt); grimpar à gorge blanche (fr); trepatroncos gorgiblanco (es); weißkehl-baumsteiger (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Dendrocolaptidae

Range:
This species is found in southern Brazil, from Bahia and Goiás south to Rio Grande do Sul, and into eastern Paraguay and extreme north-eastern Argentina.

Size:
These large woodcreepers are 27,5-33 cm long and weigh 110-130 g.

Habitat:
The white-throated woodcreeper is mostly found in moist tropical forests, including Atlantic forest and gallery forest amid cerrado and chaco habitats. They also use areas of second growth to a lesser extent. This species occurs from sea level up to an altitude of 2.000 m.

Diet:They feed mainly on large arthropods, but also take snails, bird eggs, and occasionally small vertebrates.

Breeding:
White-throated woodcreepers breed in October-March. They nest in natural tree cavities, or sometimes in nest boxes, which are lined with bark flakes, leaf fragments and seed pods. The female lays 2-4 eggs, which are incubated by both parents for 17 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge 18-22 days after hatching.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a very large breeding range, but is described as uncommon. The population is suspected to be in decline owing to ongoing habitat loss and degradation, but it is not considered threatened at present.

Tawny-winged woodcreeper

Dendrocincla anabatina

Photo by Marc Fasol (Internet Bird Collection)

Common name:
tawny-winged woodcreeper (en); arapaçu-d'asa-ruiva (pt); grimpar à ailes rousses (fr); trepatroncos sepia (es); lohschwingen-baumsteiger (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Dendrocolaptidae

Range:
This species is found in Central America, from southern Mexico down to Costa Rica and marginally into Panama.

Size:
These birds are 17-19 cm long and weigh about 40 g.

Habitat:
The tawny-winged woodcreeper is mostly found in evergreen and semi-deciduous moist tropical forests, also using second growth, dense scrublands and mangroves. They are present from sea level up to an altitude of 1.250 m.

Diet:
They feed mainly on insects, but also take small lizards and some plant material. They often
follow groups of squirrel monkeys and army ant swarms to capture fleeing insects.

Breeding:
Tawny-winged woodcreepers nest in tree cavities or hollow trunks, 1,5-6 m above the ground, which they line with plant fibres and lichens. There the female lays 2 eggs which she incubates alone for 20-21 days. The chicks are raised by the mother and fledge 23-25 days after hatching.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a large breeding range and a global population estimated at 50.000-500.000 individuals. This population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats.

Scimitar-billed woodcreeper

Drymornis bridgesii

Photo by Cláudio Timm (Flickr)

Common name:
scimitar-billed woodcreeper (en); arapaçu-platino (pt); grimpar porte-sabre (fr); trepatroncos chinchero (es); degenschnabel-baumsteiger (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Dendrocolaptidae

Range:
This species is found in Argentina, south-eastern Bolivia, extreme southern Brazil, western Paraguay and western and central Uruguay.

Size:
These birds are29-35 cm long and weigh 75-110 g.

Habitat:
The scimitar-billed woodcreeper is mostly found in chaco woodland and scrublands, savannas with Acacia and Proposis, palm savannas, dry tropical forests and rural gardens. They are present from sea level up to an altitude of 1.000 m.

Diet:
They feed on spiders, centipedes, millipedes, scorpions and insects such as locusts, caterpillars and the larvae of beetles and ant-lions.

Breeding:
Scimitar-billed woodcreepers breed in September-December. They nest in tree cavities, using both natural cavities and old woodpecker nests, occasionally also using abandoned nests of rufous hornero Furnarius rufus or even unused chimneys. The nest is usually 1-2 m above the ground and lined with leaves, bark or wood chips. The female lays 3 white eggs, which are incubated by both parents for about 14 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge 3 weeks after hatching, but remain dependent on the parents for several months.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a very large breeding range and is described as uncommon to fairly common.
The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats.

Straight-billed woodcreeper

Dendroplex picus

Photo by Flávio Mota (Flickr)

Common name:
straight-billed woodcreeper (en); arapaçu-de-bico-branco (pt); gimpar talapiot (fr); trepatroncos piquirrecto (es); spechtschnabel-baumsteiger (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Dendrocolaptidae

Range:
This species is found in central and northern South America, only east of the Andes, from Venezuela and Colombia south to Bolivia and Brazil as far south as Mato Grosso do Sul and Minas Gerais. It is also found in Trinidad and Tobago.

Size:
These birds are 20-22 cm long and weigh 42-45 g.

Habitat:
The straight-billed woodcreeper is mostly found in moist tropical forests, but also swamp forests, dry forests and savannas, mangroves, inland wetlands and also in plantations and second growths.

Diet:
They forage on the branches of trees and scrubs in search of various insects and other invertebrates.

Breeding:
Straight-billed woodcreepers nest in tree cavities. The female lays 2-3 eggs which are incubated by both sexes for 17 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge 17-18 days after hatching.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a very large breeding range and is described as common. The population is suspected to be increasing as ongoing habitat degradation is creating new areas of suitable habitat.

Cocoa woodcreeper

Xiphorhynchus susurrans

Photo by Paul Kusmin (Flickr)

Common name:
cocoa woodcreeper (en); arapaçu-do-cacao (pt); grimpar cacao (fr); trepatroncos cacao (es); kleiner fahlkehl-baumsteiger (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Dendrocolaptidae

Range:
This species is found from Guatemala to northern Colombia and Venezuela, also being found in the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Tobago.

Size:
These birds are 23-28 cm long and weigh 35-65 g.

Habitat:
These birds are mostly found in rainforests, gallery forests along rivers, swamp forests and mature mangroves, but also in cerrado woodlands, dry scrublands, second growths and plantations. They are found from sea level up to an altitude of 2.400 m.

Diet:
They forage by gleaning, pecking or probing into bark crevices, dead leafs, clumps of moss or knotholes, mostly tacking various arthropods, but sometimes also small vertebrates. They sometimes follow columns of army ants.

Breeding:
The cocoa woodcreeper builds a bark-lined nest in a tree hole or hollow stump, usually near the ground. There the female lays 1-3 eggs which are incubated for 18-19 days. The chicks fledge 19 days after hatching.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a large breeding range and is described as fairly common to common throughout most of its range, although uncommon to rare at higher altitudes, in north-west Costa Rica and in northern Honduras. This population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats.

Narrow-billed woodcreeper

Lepidocolaptes angustirostris

(Photo from Verde Verdugo)

Common name:
narrow-billed woodcreeper (en); arapaçu-do-cerrado (pt); grimpar à bec étroit (fr); trepatroncos chico (es); südlicher weißbauch-baumsteiger (de)


Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Dendrocolaptidae


Range:
These birds are found in South America, in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Surinam and Uruguay.


Size:
They are 19-21 cm long and weigh 28-30 g.


Habitat:
Narrow-billed woodcreepers are mostly found in subtropical or tropical dry forests and in dry savanna habitats, namely cerrado. They can also be found in moist savanna, swamp forests, scrubland, plantations and in degraded former forests.


Diet:
They spend most of their time searching for small animals in the bark of trees, taking spiders, scorpions, insects, amphibians and small lizards.


Breeding:
The narrow-billed woodcreepers nest in tree cavities, either natural or made by woodpeckers.  There the female lays 2-3 eggs which are incubated by both sexes for 15-19 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge 19 days after hatching.


Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least concern)
This species has a very large breeding range and is described as fairly common. This population is suspected to be increasing as ongoing habitat degradation is creating new areas of suitable habitat.

Great rufous woodcreeper

Xiphocolaptes major

Photo by Peter Schoen (Flickr)

Common name:

great rufous woodcreeper (en); arapaçu-do-campo (pt); grand grimpar (fr); trepatroncos colorado (es); fuchsroter baumsteiger (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Passeriformes

Family Dendrocolaptidae

Range:

This South American species is found in northern Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia and south-western Brazil.

Size:

This large woodcreeper is 35 cm long and weighs 155 g.

Habitat:

They are found in tropical and subtropical dry forests and in tropical and subtropical moist lowland forests.

Diet:The great rufous woodcreeper feeds on insects, spiders, and other invertebrates, for which they search in clefts in bark and among mosses, lichens, and epiphytic plants growing on tree-limbs.

Breeding: Both parents build the nest either in old woodpecker holes or in natural cavities in trees. The nest is made of fine rootlets, pieces of bark, lichens, and strands of plant fibres. The female lays 2-3 white eggs which are incubated by both parents for 15-21 days. Both parents rear the young until fledging, which takes place 19-23 days after hatching.

Conservation:

IUCN status: LC (Least Concern)

The population size has not been quantified, but the species in described as uncommon. Still, they have a very large breeding range and there is no evidence for any declines or substantial threats, so the species is not threatened at present.