Montane Woodcreeper

Identification

The montane woodcreeper is 19 to 19.5 cm (7.5 to 7.7 in) long; males weigh 31 to 35 g (1.1 to 1.2 oz) and females 29.5 to 33 g (1.0 to 1.2 oz). It is a smallish to medium-sized woodcreeper with a slim, slightly decurved bill. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies L. l. lacrymiger have a markedly streaked face and neck with a whitish supercilium that is often broken. Their crown and nape are dusky brown with conspicuous whitish buff spots with black tips; the spots become streaks on the nape. Their back and wing coverts are rufous-brown and their rump, wings, and tail rufous-chestnut. Their underparts are olive-brown with long, wide, black-edged and tipped buffy streaks . Their iris is dark brown and their legs and feet olive-gray to dark horn. Their maxilla is blackish to dusky gray or dark horn and the mandible pale gray to whitish. Juveniles have less distinct borders on the underside streaks, and a shorter and darker bill.<p>The other subspecies of the montane woodcreeper differ from the nominate and each other thus:

Taxonomy

The montane woodcreeper was formerly considered conspecific with the spot-crowned woodcreeper (L. affinis) but they were split in the early 2000s.<p>The montane woodcreeper has these nine subspecies:

Scientific name

Lepidocolaptes lacrymiger

Authority

(Lafresnaye, 1849)

Order

Passeriformes

Family

Furnariidae

Genus

Lepidocolaptes

Range and habitat

The subspecies of the montane woodcreeper are found thus:<p>The population of the montane woodcreeper on the western slope of the Andes in northwestern Peru could be either L. l. aequatorialis or L. l. warscewiczi.<p>The montane woodcreeper inhabits a variety of forested landscapes, mostly in mid- to upper elevations. It favors montane evergreen forest and cloudforest, and also occurs in somewhat open woodland, montane deciduous forest, and stunted forest near treeline. It is found in the interior of primary forest but is thought to be more common at its edges and in mature secondary forest. It also occurs in clearings and pastures with trees. In elevation it generally ranges between 1,750 and 3,000 m (5,700 and 9,800 ft) but is occasionally found as low as 900 m (3,000 ft) in Venezuela. In Colombia it ranges between 1,700 and 3,500 m (5,600 and 11,500 ft) and in Ecuador between 1,500 and 3,000 m (4,900 and 9,800 ft).

Migration

Resident species

Behavior

The montane woodcreeper is a year-round resident in most of its range; in Venezuela there is some movement to lower elevations in the rainy season.<p>The montane woodcreeper's diet is not known in detail but is primarily arthropods. It typically forages singly or in pairs and regularly joins mixed-species feeding flocks. It is not known to follow army ant swarms. It hitches up trunks and along the underside of branches, typically from the forest's midlevel to the subcanopy and seldom near the ground. It captures prey by gleaning from surfaces and by probing bark crevices, epiphytes, and moss.<p>The montane woodcreeper's breeding seasons vary geographically but generally fall within April to August. It nests in a cavity in a tree or stump, either natural or excavated by a woodpecker. One nest contained three eggs. The incubation period and time to fledging are not known. Pairs are thought to remain together year-round, and both sexes are assumed to care for young.<p>The montane woodcreeper is not highly vocal. Its song is "a 2·5 second series of 10–15 high-pitched whistles that accelerates and descends: 'tsip, tsip, tsip, ts-ts-tseeeéu, tseeu, tseu-tseu-tseu-tseu' or 'tseu, tseu, tsip-tsip, tsee-tsee-tsee-tsee-tsee' ". It also makes a "series of 3 reedy squeaks", a "double-noted cry", and a "rattle with introductory 'ah' ".

Conservation

Population trend

stable