Streak-headed Woodcreeper
Lepidocolaptes souleyetii
Medium-size, fairly common woodcreeper of tropical lowlands. Favors forest edge, open woodland, hedges with tall trees. Feeds on trunks and larger branches, often spiraling up one trunk and flying low to the next tree. Note the relatively slender and slightly decurved bill, distinct but fine pale streaking on the head and back. Easily confused with larger Ivory-billed Woodcreeper, which is more of a forest bird and has a bigger and straighter bill.
Identification
The streak-headed woodcreeper is 19 to 21 cm (7.5 to 8.3 in) long and weighs 23 to 31 g (0.81 to 1.1 oz). It is a slim, medium-sized woodcreeper with a longish, slender, decurved bill. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies L. s. souleyetii have a face with thin whitish buff and dark brown streaks; the sides of the neck are more heavily streaked. They have a whitish buff supercilium and eyering. Their crown and nape are dark brown with bold whitish buff streaks that often extend onto the upper back. Their back and wing coverts are rufous-olive to cinnamon-brown. Their flight feathers, rump, and tail are cinnamon-rufous to rufous-chestnut. Their primaries have brownish edges and dusky tips. Their throat is whitish buff to pale cinnamon. Their underparts are grayish olive to buffy brown with black-edged whitish buff streaks. The streaks are wide on the breast and sides, those on the belly and flanks narrower, and those on the undertail coverts minimal. Their underwing coverts are ochraceous to pale cinnamon-buff. Their iris is pale brown or brown, their bill pale brown or horn with most of the mandible bluish-pink, and their legs and feet grayish olive-green. Juveniles are very similar to adults but with small scattered dusky spots instead of streaks on their underparts.<p>The other subspecies of the streak-headed woodcreeper differ from the nominate and each other thus:
Taxonomy
The streak-headed woodcreeper has these seven subspecies:<p>The streak-headed woodcreeper's specific epithet commemorates Louis François Auguste Souleyet, French zoologist and naval surgeon.
- Scientific name
- Lepidocolaptes souleyetii
- Authority
- (Lafresnaye, 1849)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Furnariidae
- Genus
- Lepidocolaptes
Range and habitat
The subspecies of the streak-headed woodcreeper are found thus:<p>The streak-headed woodcreeper inhabits a variety of wooded landscapes, most of them semi-open to open. These include deciduous and somewhat humid forest, gallery forest, secondary forest, plantations, the edges of humid forest, and open areas with scattered trees. It also locally occurs in mangrove and in arid scrublands. In elevation it reaches 1,500 m (4,900 ft) in Mexico, 1,850 m (6,100 ft) in northern Central America, 1,500 m (4,900 ft) in Costa Rica (though uncommon above 900 m (3,000 ft)), 1,500 m (4,900 ft) in Colombia, and 1,600 m (5,200 ft) in Venezuela. In Ecuador it mostly occurs below 800 m (2,600 ft) but reaches 1,800 m (5,900 ft) locally in Loja Province.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Barusan Cuckoo-Dove
Macropygia modiglianii
Endemic to the Barusan Islands, off Sumatra’s northwest coast. Dark gingery brown overall, with a slightly lighter head. The only cuckoo-dove on the Barusans, except for Simeulue, where Little Cuckoo-Dove also occurs; note Barusan’s larger size and darker rust-brown chest. Inhabits forested areas in the lowlands and foothills of the Barusans. Similar in habits to other cuckoo-doves: shy and sluggish, typically foraging singly in the middle and lower levels of forest. Gives a three-part series of cooing hoots, “woo-woo-wooOOH”; may sound like just one rising hoot at a distance.
Long-billed Thrasher
Toxostoma longirostre
A fairly large and long-tailed thrasher with limited range in south Texas and northeast Mexico. Note dark reddish-brown upperparts, contrasting gray face, and heavily streaked underparts. Usually skulky and difficult to see in shrubby woodlands. Listen for its loud song, a long series of jumbled phrases. Most similar to Brown Thrasher, but almost no range overlap. Long-billed Thrasher is duller brown above and has a more contrasting gray face.
Buckley's Forest-Falcon
Micrastur buckleyi
Elusive falcon of lowland and foothill rainforest east of the Andes. Note black upperparts, white underparts, white hindcollar, and dull yellow face. Female may show white spots on wings. Immature is barred underneath with brownish nape. Adult is very similar to pale morph Collared Forest-Falcon but slightly smaller; ID is best confirmed by voice. Typical song of Buckley’s is “kawah, koh”, sometimes followed by a lower “koh” note. Usually stays inside forest and is infrequently seen.
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