Plain-brown Woodcreeper
Encyclopedia
The Plain-brown Woodcreeper (Dendrocincla fuliginosa), is a sub-oscine passerine
bird
which breeds in the tropical New World
from Honduras
through South America
to northern Argentina
, and in Trinidad
and Tobago
. Sometimes it is considered to include the Plain-winged Woodcreeper
(D. turdina) as a subspecies
.
This woodcreeper
is typically 22 cm long, and weighs 37 g. It is drab even by woodcreeper standards. As its name implies, it lacks the streaking shown by most of its relatives, and is plain brown above and below. The bill is longish and straight.
The normal call is a loud stick, but when following army ants, the groups keep up a noisy chatter. The song is a descending te-te-te-tu-tu-tu-tue-tue-tue-chu-chu-chu.
The Plain-brown Woodcreeper is an insectivore
which feeds on ant
s and other insect
s. It feeds low in trees, on the trunk or foliage, but rarely on the ground. It will follow columns of army ant
s, often in groups of up to a dozen birds. If specialist ant feeders like antbird
s or larger woodcreepers are present, it tends to keep higher than those species. It also accompanies South American Coati
s (Nasua nasua) on their foraging excursions, especially when they feed in trees during the dry season. Though it may eat the occasional army ant and coatis might benefit from the birds spotting predators before they do, in both cases the Plain-brown Woodcreeper is typically a commensale
, snatching prey that flees before the more formidable predators.
This woodcreeper is a common and widespread forest bird which builds a leaf-lined nest in a palm tree stump; 2-3 white eggs are laid.
Passerine
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...
bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
which breeds in the tropical New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
from Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
through South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
to northern Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, and in Trinidad
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...
and Tobago
Tobago
Tobago is the smaller of the two main islands that make up the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located in the southern Caribbean, northeast of the island of Trinidad and southeast of Grenada. The island lies outside the hurricane belt...
. Sometimes it is considered to include the Plain-winged Woodcreeper
Plain-winged Woodcreeper
The Plain-winged Woodcreeper or Thrush-like Woodcreeper is a passerine bird belonging to the woodcreeper group, now classified in the ovenbird family, Furnariidae. It is sometimes considered to be a subspecies of the Plain-brown Woodcreeper .It is 20-21 centimetres long...
(D. turdina) as a subspecies
Subspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
.
This woodcreeper
Woodcreeper
The woodcreepers comprise a subfamily of sub-oscine passerine birds endemic to the Neotropics. They have traditionally been considered a distinct family Dendrocolaptidae, but most authorities now place them as a subfamily of the ovenbirds...
is typically 22 cm long, and weighs 37 g. It is drab even by woodcreeper standards. As its name implies, it lacks the streaking shown by most of its relatives, and is plain brown above and below. The bill is longish and straight.
The normal call is a loud stick, but when following army ants, the groups keep up a noisy chatter. The song is a descending te-te-te-tu-tu-tu-tue-tue-tue-chu-chu-chu.
The Plain-brown Woodcreeper is an insectivore
Insectivore
An insectivore is a type of carnivore with a diet that consists chiefly of insects and similar small creatures. An alternate term is entomophage, which also refers to the human practice of eating insects....
which feeds on ant
Ant
Ants are social insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130 million years ago and diversified after the rise of flowering plants. More than...
s and other insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s. It feeds low in trees, on the trunk or foliage, but rarely on the ground. It will follow columns of army ant
Army ant
The name army ant is applied to over 200 ant species, in different lineages, due to their aggressive predatory foraging groups, known as "raids", in which huge numbers of ants forage simultaneously over a certain area, attacking prey en masse.Another shared feature is that, unlike most ant...
s, often in groups of up to a dozen birds. If specialist ant feeders like antbird
Antbird
The antbirds are a large family, Thamnophilidae, of passerine birds found across subtropical and tropical Central and South America, from Mexico to Argentina. There are more than 200 species, known variously as antshrikes, antwrens, antvireos, fire-eyes, bare-eyes and bushbirds...
s or larger woodcreepers are present, it tends to keep higher than those species. It also accompanies South American Coati
South American Coati
The South American Coati, or Ring-tailed Coati , is a species of coati from South America. In Brazilian Portuguese it is known as quati. It is native to Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Surinam, Uruguay and Venezuela. It is the southern replacement of its very...
s (Nasua nasua) on their foraging excursions, especially when they feed in trees during the dry season. Though it may eat the occasional army ant and coatis might benefit from the birds spotting predators before they do, in both cases the Plain-brown Woodcreeper is typically a commensale
Commensalism
In ecology, commensalism is a class of relationship between two organisms where one organism benefits but the other is neutral...
, snatching prey that flees before the more formidable predators.
This woodcreeper is a common and widespread forest bird which builds a leaf-lined nest in a palm tree stump; 2-3 white eggs are laid.
External links
- Plain-brown Woodcreeper photo gallery VIREO Photo-High Res
- Photo-Medium Res; Article sunbirdtours
- Photo-High Res; Article webserv.nhl.nl—"Suriname Birds"--Map and 2 photos-High Res
- Photo-High Res; Article pbase.com–(purple-black legs & reddish brown tailfeathers-!)
