Curve-billed Scythebill
Campylorhamphus procurvoides
A brown, tree-climbing bird with a strongly curved bill. Appears small-headed; plumage is mostly rufous-brown with buffy streaking on head and neck. Found in tall rainforest, where it is uncommon and locally distributed; often occurs in areas with extensive bamboo thickets. Generally shy and rather difficult to observe. Forages at middle and upper levels, using extraordinary bill to probe into deep bark crevices, bromeliads, and broken bamboo stems. Regularly follows mixed-species flocks. Song is variable, usually an accelerating series of strident whistles. Curved bill should immediately distinguish this species from most other woodcreepers in range. In western and central Amazonia, may overlap with Red-billed Scythebill, from which it may not be safely separable unless singing.
Identification
The curve-billed scythebill is 22.5 to 25 cm (8.9 to 9.8 in) long and weighs 30 to 38 g (1.1 to 1.3 oz). It is a slim, medium-sized woodcreeper with a very long, slim, dramatically decurved bill. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies C. p. procurvoides have a dark brown head and neck with thin whitish to buffy streaks on them and the face. Their back and wing coverts are olive-brown to reddish brown. Their flight feathers, rump, and tail ares rufous-chestnut that contrasts with the back. Their throat is buffy-white with a fine scaly appearance. Their underparts are dull brown with buffy-white arrow-shaped marks that become narrow streaks on the belly but don't continue onto the undertail coverts. Their underwing coverts are cinnamon-rufous. Their iris is dark brown to chestnut, their bill dark red to reddish brown (often with a dusky brown base and a paler mandible), and their legs and feet dusky green, brown, or dark gray. <p>Subspecies C. p. gyldenstolpei is very similar to the nominate. C. p. sanus is smaller than the nominate. It is more warmly colored with a whiter throat that is streaked instead of scaly. Its bill is shorter and more strongly decurved.
Taxonomy
Taxonomists have not reached agreement on the curve-billed scythebill. The International Ornithological Committee (IOC), BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW), and the Clements taxonomy assign it these three subspecies:<p>The South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society adds three others, C. p. probatus, C. p. cardosoi, and C. p. multostriatus. Until 2023 the IOC and Clements also included them. In July the IOC split off probatus and carsosoi to create the Tapajos scythebill and multostriatus to create the Xingu scythebill. Clements followed suit in October 2023. HBW had previously made those splits.<p>Subspecies C. p. gyldenstolpei was originally proposed as a full species.<p>This article follows the three-subspecies model.
- Scientific name
- Campylorhamphus procurvoides
- Authority
- (Lafresnaye, 1850)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Furnariidae
- Genus
- Campylorhamphus
Range and habitat
The subspecies of the curve-billed scythebill are found thus:<p>The curve-billed scythebill inhabits humid evergreen forest. It greatly favors terra firme but occasionally occurs in floodplain forest. In southern Amazonia it often occurs in bamboo thickets. Subspecies C. p. gyldenstolpei tends to be in forest on sandy soils. In all forest types the species favors the interior though it does visit the forest edges. In elevation it mostly occurs below 500 m (1,600 ft) but reaches 700 m (2,300 ft) in Suriname. There is also a sight record in Venezuela at 900 m (3,000 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Hen Harrier
Circus cyaneus
Medium-sized harrier, flies with wings held in a V-shape, low over open fields and marshes, listening for rodents lurking below. Distinctive foraging behavior and conspicuous white patch on rump in all plumages. Five long primary ‘finger tips’ prominent in flight. Females and immatures are warm brown with streaky breasts. Adult male has plain mid-gray wings with black wingtips and paler belly.
Utupua Whistler
Pachycephala utupuae
Brightly-colored male has a bright golden belly, a black chest band and head, and a clean white throat. He appears to have a black “shawl” with golden wings and a black tail. Female is considerably duller, being olive-brownish above and yellow below, with a pale throat and brown breast. Endemic to Utupua, in the southeastern Solomons, where it is found in most island habitats, though avoids villages. Voice includes a sequence of sparsely spaced, thin, uninspired whistles. Formerly grouped with Vanikoro Whistler and Nendo Whistler under “Temotu Whistler.”
Snowy Albatross
Diomedea exulans
Huge albatross of the Southern Ocean; the southernmost breeder of the Wandering Albatross complex (including Snowy, Tristan, Antipodean, and Amsterdam albatrosses). Main colonies on South Georgia in the South Atlantic, and various islands in the southern Indian Ocean, but ranges extensively at sea. Plumage highly variable, starting chocolate-brown with a white face and gradually becoming whiter over many years. Younger birds separated from Southern Royal Albatross by darker tail, brown markings on head and back, and lack of black “lips” on cutting edge of bill. Older birds more difficult to separate; focus on more coarsely marked upperwings, often with conspicuous white patch in center of wing, and lack of black “lips”. Often shows orange stain on cheek, never shown by Southern Royal. Identification from other Wandering-type Albatross, especially “Gibson’s” Antipodean and Tristan, extremely difficult and often presumed by range. Adult male Snowy is the whitest of any Wandering, but intermediate ages often best left unidentified.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.