Spot-throated Woodcreeper
Certhiasomus stictolaemus
A small and difficult to identify woodcreeper, widespread but often rare and seldom encountered. Smaller than most other woodcreeper species in range (slightly larger than Olivaceous Woodcreeper), with a relatively short, straight bill and weakly marked brown plumage. Note the faint pale streaking on the head and spots on the throat. Best found and identified by voice, a fast, even trill lasting between 1-2 seconds and usually heard at dawn.
Identification
The spot-throated woodcreeper is 16.5 to 19 cm (6.5 to 7.5 in) long. Males weigh 14 to 22 g (0.49 to 0.78 oz) and females 13 to 17 g (0.46 to 0.60 oz). The species is slim, with a long tail and a short slim bill. The sexes are alike in plumage. The nominate subspecies C. s. stictolaemus is mostly olive-brown above, with buffy streaks on the crown and nape and a more rufous chestnut rump and uppertail coverts. Its flight feathers are mostly dusky brown with some rufous on the tips and often a bright cinnamon shoulder. Its tail is russet to deep chestnut. It has pale lores and a buffy supercilium, both of which are rather inconspicuous. Its throat is dull buff to olive-buff with darker speckles that becomes olive-brown on the breast; its breast has buff wedge-shaped spots. Its iris is dark brown, it bill dark brown with a silvery mandible, and its legs and feet grayish blue to brownish gray.<p>Subspecies C. s. secundus is slightly larger than the nominate. Its upperparts are more rufescent and its underparts more olive with more obvious spotting. C. s. clarior is overall paler than the nominate, but more rufescent and has a blacker crown.
Taxonomy
The spot-throated woodcreeper was formerly included in genus Deconychura together with the long-tailed woodcreeper (D. longicauda), but the two are not closely related.<p>It is the only member of genus Certhiasomus and has these three subspecies:<p>Subspecies C. s. secundus has sometimes been treated as a separate species.
- Scientific name
- Certhiasomus stictolaemus
- Authority
- (Pelzeln, 1868)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Furnariidae
- Genus
- Certhiasomus
Range and habitat
The spot-throated woodcreeper is a bird of the Amazon Basin. Its subspecies are distributed thus:<p>The spot-throated woodcreeper is a bird of humid forest, where it favors the interior of undisturbed forest but also occasionally occurs at its edges and in mature secondary forest. Both floodplain and terra firme forests host it though it also occurs in igapó (blackwater) forests and those on sandy soil. In elevation it ranges from near sea level to 500 m (1,600 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The spot-throated woodcreeper is a year-round resident throughout its range.<p>The spot-throated woodcreeper almost always forages as part of a mixed-species feeding flock, and is usually there singly. It feeds by hitching itself up tree trunks, often low to the ground but as high as 10 m (33 ft). It feeds on tiny to small arthropods by picking them from the substrate or in brief sallies from the tree.<p>Almost nothing is known about the spot-throated woodcreeper's breeding biology. Its breeding season appears to vary somewhat geographically but includes at least December to April.<p>The spot-throated woodcreeper's song is a "high, short, staccato rattle, slightly rising and trailing off." It gives " a stuttered 'sip! sip-ip-ip' " alarm call.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Peltops montanus
A medium-sized bird of montane forest edge and clearings. Distinctive plumage. Mainly black, bright red above and below the base of the tail; and white marks on the cheek and back. Perches in tall trees, sallying for flying insects. Very similar to Lowland Peltops, but Mountain is found at higher elevations and has larger white cheeks. Voice, a high-pitch, downward trill, sounding rather like a cricket.
Plain Antvireo
Dysithamnus mentalis
Antvireos, as the name, suggests, resemble vireos, with rather heavy bills and shortish tails. This species inhabits open understory in humid forest of tropical lowlands and foothills. Usually found as sluggish singles or pairs, at times moving with mixed-species feeding flocks. Male has gray face and breast with a broad dark mask. Female has rusty cap and plain face and breast with a whitish eyering.
Mountain Chickadee
Poecile gambeli
White stripe above the eye separates it from other chickadees. Otherwise, much like other chickadees: grayish overall with a big head, tiny bill, and black cap and throat. Tends to be in high-elevation mountainous areas with dry, coniferous forests. Active and acrobatic. Often in flocks with nuthatches and kinglets. Visits feeders.
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