Hoffmanns's Woodcreeper
Dendrocolaptes hoffmannsi
Large woodcreeper with a strong black bill. Dark chestnut-brown overall. Note the very fine bars on the head and underparts and the cinnamon crown. Found in the interior of humid forest and second growth, sometimes venturing to the forest edges, and regularly attending army-ant swarms. The song is a rolling series of “wutwutwut…” notes like the song of the closely-related Black-banded Woodcreeper, but the two probably don’t overlap in range. The similar Amazonian Barred-Woodcreeper has a dark red-brown bill.
Identification
Hoffmanns's woodcreeper is one of the larger members of its subfamily. It is slim, with a long tail and a medium-length straight bill. It is 28 to 29 cm (11 to 11 in) long. Males weigh 78.5 to 86 g (2.8 to 3.0 oz) and females 74 to 89 g (2.6 to 3.1 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a dark buffy face with a faint scaly appearance and a faint supercilium. Their forehead and crown are rufescent that becomes rufous-brown on their nape and back; their crown feathers have black tips. Their rump, wings, and tail are cinnamon-rufous to rufous-chestnut. Their throat and underparts are dull buffy with an olive cast; the latter become more ochraceous on the belly. Their breast has faint buffy streaks. Their belly and flanks have faint narrow dusky bars. Their iris is light gray to brown, their bill dusky gray to black with usually a paler mandible, and their legs and feet gray. Juveniles are similar to adults but more reddish above and more ochraceous below with variable amounts of barring and streaking on their underparts.
Taxonomy
Hoffmanns's woodcreeper is monotypic. It has in the past been treated as a subspecies of the black-banded woodcreeper (D. picumnus). Hoffmanns's, the black-banded, and the planalto woodcreeper (D. platyrostris) are very closely related, and several authors have suggested that they are conspecific.
- Scientific name
- Dendrocolaptes hoffmannsi
- Authority
- Hellmayr, 1909
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Furnariidae
- Genus
- Dendrocolaptes
Range and habitat
Hoffmanns's woodcreeper is found in Amazonian Brazil south of the Amazon River between the Rio Madeira and Rio Tapajós. To the south it reaches Rondônia and Mato Grosso. It inhabits humid forest of both terra firme and várzea types. It favors the interior of primary forest but also occurs at its edges and in mature secondary forest.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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