Slender-billed Xenops
Xenops tenuirostris
A small, brown bird of rainforest canopy. Note upturned mandible, white whisker mark, and pale streaking on underparts and back. Follows mixed-species flocks in the canopy but is rarely encountered. Bores into dead twigs and vines for insects, and may climb briefly on larger branches to probe bark crevices. Song is 4–6 high notes, dropping slightly in pitch at end; delivered forcefully but with a thin quality and thus easily overlooked. In central and western Amazonia, compare with very similar Streaked Xenops, from which it is best separated by Slender-billed’s slower song. Readily distinguished from Rufous-tailed Xenops by prominent white whisker streak.
Identification
The slender-billed xenops is 10 to 11.5 cm (3.9 to 4.5 in) long and weighs 9 to 11 g (0.32 to 0.39 oz). Its namesake bill is wedge-shaped, and longer and thinner than those of other xenops. The sexes are alike. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a blackish brown face with a dark brown crown that is spotted and streaked buff, a buffish white supercilium, and a pure white malar streak. Their back is rufescent brown with short, wide, elongated creamy buff spots on its upper part. Their rump and uppertail coverts are reddish rufous. Their tail's central and outermost pairs of feathers are rufous and the others mixed black and rufous; the black is visible in the field. Their wing coverts are dark brown with rufous edges and their flight feathers are blackish brown with a wide rufous band near their ends. Their chin and throat are pale buff with olive-brown streaks at the lower edge, their breast dull olive-brown with crisp pale buff streaks, their belly dull olive-brown with narrower buff streaks, and their undertail coverts dull olive-brown with pale buff streaks along their shafts. Their iris is brown to dark brown, their bill has a black or brownish maxilla and a black mandible with a lighter base, and their legs and feet are dark blue-gray to black.<p>Subspecies X. t. acutirostris has a darker back with larger streaks than the nominate, darker and more grayish olive underparts with wider whitish streaks, and a more slender bill. X. t. hellmayri more closely resembles the nominate, though its crown is slightly darker with more distinct streaks, its supercilium, neck, and throat are bright buff, and its underparts more brownish.
Taxonomy
The slender-billed xenops has three subspecies, the nominate X. t. tenuirostris (Pelzeln, 1859), X. t. acutirostris (Chapman, 1923), and X. t. hellmayri (Todd, 1925).
- Scientific name
- Xenops tenuirostris
- Authority
- Pelzeln, 1859
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Furnariidae
- Genus
- Xenops
Range and habitat
Subspecies X. t. acutirostris of the slender-billed xenops is found from western Guayana, southern Venezuela, and southeastern Colombia south through eastern Ecuador into northeastern Peru. X. t. hellmayri is found in Suriname and French Guiana. X. t. tenuirostris is found from southeastern Peru and northern Bolivia east into Brazil south of the Amazon River to Pará state. However, there is evidence that some populations may be mis-assigned: Birds in Venezuela do not closely resemble others of acutirostris, and those in Guyana might belong to hellmayri.<p>The slender-billed xenops inhabits humid lowland and flooded evergreen forest. In most of its range it occurs below 600 m (2,000 ft) but it reaches 900 m (3,000 ft) in Colombia and locally to 1,500 m (4,900 ft) in the Andean foothills.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The slender-billed xenops is a year-round resident throughout its range.<p>The slender-billed xenops' diet is almost entirely arthropods. It usually forages as a member of mixed-species feeding flocks, and mostly in the forest's subcanopy and canopy. It hammers and gleans while hitching along branches.<p>Nothing is known about the slender-billed xenops' breeding biology.<p>The slender-billed xenops' song is a series of four or five notes variously described as "tseep" and "tsip".
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
American Kestrel
Falco sparverius
Petite falcon roughly the same size as Mourning Dove, but with a larger head and wider tail. In flight, note long, narrow wings and square-tipped tail. Often seen perched on telephone wires, along roadsides, in open country with short vegetation and few trees. From a perch or hovering, they usually drop to the ground to snatch small mammals and insects. Nests in cavities. Widespread across the Americas.
European Pied Flycatcher
Ficedula hypoleuca
Breeding male is boldly pied, with a big white wing patch and white forehead spot. Female and immature are brown above, with an obvious white wing patch. In areas of overlap, compare with very similar Collared and Semicollared Flycatchers. Breeds in shady, mixed and deciduous woodland, especially with oaks. Uses a range of habitats on migration and on wintering grounds, including forest edge, open woodland, and plantation. Feeds at all levels, sallying after insects in the leafy foliage; at times, perches out on open fences. Song is a cheerful whistled series with an up-and-down quality. Calls include a sharp, bright, somewhat metallic “wit!” and a short “tsee.”
White-throated Fantail
Rhipidura albicollis
A distinctive fantail, all dark except for a white throat and a short white eyebrow. The tail, often fanned, is a shade darker with white tips to all tail feathers except the central pair. Juvenile is like adult, but with reduced white on face and brownish edges to the dark body feathers. Gives very harsh contact calls. Song is a musical phrase of 6-7 notes that ascends first and then descends. Found in a wide range of wooded habitats, from dense forest to forest edge and gardens, from lowlands up into the mountains.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.