Great Rufous Woodcreeper
Xiphocolaptes major
Very large woodcreeper with a massive, robust bill. Plumage is rather uniformly cinnamon with some faint streaking on the breast. Note the black lores. Found in dry forest, woodland, and gallery forest. Sings a slightly descending series of double notes: “hick-up, hick-up, hick-up.” Other woodcreepers within its range are much smaller, with streaked or spotted plumage.
Identification
The great rufous woodcreeper is the largest, though not the heaviest, member of its subfamily. It is heavy-bodied with a long, heavy, somewhat decurved bill. It is 27 to 34 cm (11 to 13 in) long. Males weigh 120 to 150 g (4.2 to 5.3 oz) and females 120 to 162 g (4.2 to 5.7 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies X. m. major are almost entirely bright rufous-cinnamon. Their crown is slightly darker, their tail more chestnut, and their flight feathers reddish brown with dusky tips on the primaries. Their lores are blackish, their throat pale cinnamon with whitish buff streaks, and their underparts cinnamon with some buffy streaks on the breast and dusky brownish bars on the belly. Their iris is dark brown, rich red-brown, or crimson. Their bill is pale, from horn colored to horn-white, and their legs and feet dark grayish olive, greenish, or bluish gray. Juveniles are generally brighter overall than adults, especially on their underparts; they have stronger streaks on the breast but weaker ones on the crown. <p>Subspecies X. m. remoratus has darker upperparts than the nominate, with less reddish underparts that are more heavily streaked and barred. X. m. castaneus is darker overall than the nominate, with a more brownish head, deeper chestnut upperparts, and less streaking and barring on the underparts. X. m. estebani is overall much lighter than the nominate but otherwise similar.
Taxonomy
The great rufous woodcreeper has these four subspecies:
- Scientific name
- Xiphocolaptes major
- Authority
- (Vieillot, 1818)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Dendrocolaptidae
- Genus
- Xiphocolaptes
Range and habitat
The subspecies of the great rufous woodcreeper are found thus:<p>The great rufous woodcreeper inhabits a variety of forest landscapes including dry woodland, semi-deciduous woodland, gallery forest, and Gran Chaco woodland. It also occurs in scrubby forest, cerrado, and wooded savanna. It favors the forest interior but occasionally occurs at its edges. In elevation it mostly occurs below 1,500 m (4,900 ft) but reaches as high as 1,800 m (5,900 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The great rufous woodcreeper is a year-round resident throughout its range.<p>The great rufous woodcreeper's diet is mostly insects, and it feeds on smaller amounts of other arthropods and small vertebrates. It mostly forages alone or in pairs, and occasionally in trios that are thought to be family groups. It is not known to follow army ant swarms or join mixed-species feeding flocks. It forages from the ground to the subcanopy, turning over leaf litter and hitching along trunks and branches, probing and gleaning for prey.<p>The great rufous woodcreeper's breeding season is not well defined, but includes October and November. It nests in a cavity, either natural or excavated by a woodpecker, to which it adds material like leaves and wood chips. The clutch size is two or three eggs. The incubation period, time to fledging, and details of parental care are not known.<p>The great rufous woodcreeper's song is a "slightly descending series of 5-8 double-noted whistles, like 'wéettuck - -'." It has a "loud, ringing quality". The species gives a "two-part call...[an] emphatic...'eeehr-eek!'."
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Impressively large antpitta of Andean cloud forest in Ecuador and southern Colombia. Oddly proportioned, with short tail, long legs, and stout bill. Underparts are cinnamon or buff with dense black barring; also note gray crown and brown back. Compared to Undulated Antpitta, it is larger and lacks gray back and white throat. Generally quite rare but regularly visits worm feeders in some locations. Mostly terrestrial but may perch quite high while singing. Song is a long, rising trill that gets steadily louder.
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