Amazonian Barred-Woodcreeper
Dendrocolaptes certhia
Large reddish brown woodcreeper of lowland rainforest. Lightly barred from face to back and underparts; this barring can be quite diffuse and sometimes difficult to see in the field. Average-sized bill can be brown to dark red, depending on the population. A faint dark cheek pattern can often be seen. Similar to some other large unstreaked woodcreepers; weak pattern of horizontal barring and dark brown or red (not gray) bill help differentiate from Cinnamon-throated, Plain-brown, and White-chinned Woodcreepers. Prefers mature forest habitats, and is frequently found singly or in pairs around army ant swarms. Voice is a quick descending series of whistles, shorter and more quickly descending than Black-banded.
Identification
The Amazonian barred woodcreeper is one of the larger members of its subfamily. It is slim, with a long tail, a medium-length straight bill with a slightly hooked tip, and (in the male) a shaggy crest. It is 26 to 28.5 cm (10 to 11 in) long. Males weigh 50 to 73.5 g (1.8 to 2.6 oz) and females 52 to 79 g (1.8 to 2.8 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies D. c. certhia have a mostly brownish face with fine barring, a weak supercilium, and pale lores and auriculars. Their forehead to crown are darkish olive-brown with golden-buff streaks on the crown. Their back and wing coverts are a lighter olive-brown with weak blackish bars. Their flight feathers, rump, and tail are cinnamon-rufous to rufous-chestnut, with dusky tips on the primaries. Their chin and throat are pale gray to dirty white that contrasts with the deep buff to fulvous underparts; the underparts have fine dusky bars. Their underwing is cinnamon-rufous to ochre-yellow. Their iris is reddish to dark brown, their bill dark red to brownish with lighter edges and base of the mandible, and their legs and feet are brown, greenish, gray, olive, or black. Juveniles resemble adults but with less obvious barring, no pale streaks on the crown, and a shorter and darker bill.<p>Subspecies D. c. juruanus is like the nominate but without the golden streaks on the crown. D. c. radiolatus is more richly colored than the nominate, more cinnamon-brown above and ochraceus-brown below, and with stronger and darker barring on the back and underparts. D. c. concolor has little or no barring, darker plumage, and a redder bill. D. c. ridgwayi is similar to concolor but with more obvious barring. D. c. medius and D. c. retentus are very similar to the nominate but have a duller crown, a pale gray face, and paler underparts with weaker markings.
Taxonomy
The Amazonian barred woodcreeper was described by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in 1780 in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux from two specimens collected in Cayenne, French Guiana. The bird was also illustrated in a hand-colored plate engraved by François-Nicolas Martinet in the Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle which was produced under the supervision of Edme-Louis Daubenton to accompany Buffon's text. Neither the plate caption nor Buffon's description included a scientific name but in 1783 the Dutch naturalist Pieter Boddaert coined the binomial name Picus certhia in his catalogue of the Planches Enluminées. The Amazonian barred woodcreeper is now one of five woodcreepers placed in the genus Dendrocolaptes that was introduced by the French naturalist Johann Hermann in 1804. The generic name is from the Ancient Greek dendrokolaptēs meaning "woodpecker". The specific epithet certhia is from the Ancient Greek kerthios, a word used by Aristotle for an unidentified small insectivorous bird.<p>The Amazonian barred woodcreeper's taxonomy is unsettled. The The International Ornithological Committee (IOC) recognizes these seven subspecies:<p>The Clements taxonomy recognizes an eighth subspecies, D. c. polyzonus (Todd, 1913), which the IOC includes in D. c. juruanus. BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) recognizes D. c. polyzonus but does not recognize D. c. ridgwayi.<p>What is now the northern barred woodcreeper (D. sanctithomae) was included in this species until the 1990s; the two form a superspecies. Subspecies D. c. concolor has been considered a separate species, the "concolor woodcreeper", but most taxonomists do not accept the separation. The authors who identified subspecies D. c. retentus treated all the subspecies as individual species but recognized that their analysis did not follow the biological species concept.<p>This article follows the IOC seven-subspecies model.
- Scientific name
- Dendrocolaptes certhia
- Authority
- (Boddaert, 1783)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Furnariidae
- Genus
- Dendrocolaptes
Range and habitat
The Amazonian barred woodcreeper is a bird of the Amazon Basin. The subspecies are found thus:<p>The Amazonian barred woodcreeper inhabits humid evergreen forest. It is partial to mature terra firme forest but also regularly occurs in flooded and flood-plain forest. It is found less frequently in savanna forest, mangroves, and at the fringes of its range, deciduous and gallery forest. It is most common in primary forest interior but is regular at its edges and in mature secondary forest. In elevation it mostly ranges from sea level to 900 m (3,000 ft) but reaches about 1,400 m (4,600 ft) in the tepuis of the Venezuela-Guyana-Brazil borderlands. In Colombia and Ecuador it is most common below 600 m (2,000 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: stable.
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Urocissa flavirostris
The southwestern counterpart of the Red-billed Blue-Magpie, this colorful long-tailed corvid also forages in noisy flocks. Similar in coloration to Red-billed, but Yellow-billed is paler blue overall, with a small white patch at the back of the crown instead of an extensive white stripe, and a bright yellow bill instead of a scarlet one. Primarily found in Himalayan hill forest, with disjunct populations in northwestern Myanmar and northern Vietnam.
Broad-tailed Paradise-Whydah
Vidua obtusa
Lays its eggs in the nests of Orange-winged Pytilia. The distinctive breeding male has a long, broad tail. Non-breeding males and females are nondescript sparrow-like birds with striped heads and pale underparts. Found in broadleaf woodland, mainly miombo. Most records are of the conspicuous and easily identified breeding-plumaged males. Mimics the inconspicuous vocalizations of its host Orange-winged Pytilia. Breeding male is similar to Eastern Paradise-Whydah, but has a shorter and broader tail, and darker buff and rufous coloration on the nape and breast. Non-breeding male and female are very similar to Eastern, but have a paler bill and lack strong “comma” marks on the cheek. Also similar to female and non-breeding male indigobirds, but larger.
Amazonian Antpitta
Myrmothera berlepschi
Lowland rainforest antpitta of secondary growth. Typical antpitta shape, with long legs, almost no tail, and a plump body. Light brown above, white with diffuse brown streaking below, and a tawny wash on the face and breast. Lighter and more orangey than the similar Thrush-like Antpitta, which prefers more mature forest habitat. Does not have a strong facial pattern like other lowland antpittas. Secretive and difficult to see; listen for its song, a series of 3-5 loud “coop” notes.
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