Plain-winged Woodcreeper
Encyclopedia
The Plain-winged Woodcreeper or Thrush-like Woodcreeper (Dendrocincla turdina) 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
(D. fuliginosa).
It is 20-21 centimetres long. It is mostly plain brown with no markings apart from faint buff streaks on the crown, a buff throat and a chestnut tail. The bill
is fairly short and straight. The song
is long and monotonous. The Plain-brown Woodcreeper is similar in appearance but has rufous wings, rump and tail.
It occurs in eastern Brazil
from Rio Grande do Sul
north to Bahia
. It is also found in north-east Argentina
(Misiones Province
) and eastern Paraguay
. It inhabits the lower and middle levels of forest
and woodland
from the coast into the foothills. It feeds on arthropod
s and often follows army ant
swarms in order to catch prey flushed by the ants. Unlike most woodcreepers, it will make sallies to catch insects in flight or snatch them from leaves.
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...
belonging to the 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...
group, now classified in the ovenbird
Ovenbird (family)
Ovenbirds or furnariids are a large family of small suboscine passerine birds found in Mexico, and Central and South America. They form the family Furnariidae...
family, Furnariidae. It is sometimes considered to be 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...
of the Plain-brown Woodcreeper
Plain-brown Woodcreeper
The Plain-brown Woodcreeper , 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 The Plain-brown Woodcreeper (Dendrocincla...
(D. fuliginosa).
It is 20-21 centimetres long. It is mostly plain brown with no markings apart from faint buff streaks on the crown, a buff throat and a chestnut tail. The bill
Beak
The beak, bill or rostrum is an external anatomical structure of birds which is used for eating and for grooming, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for food, courtship and feeding young...
is fairly short and straight. The song
Bird song
Bird vocalization includes both bird calls and bird songs. In non-technical use, bird songs are the bird sounds that are melodious to the human ear. In ornithology and birding, songs are distinguished by function from calls.-Definition:The distinction between songs and calls is based upon...
is long and monotonous. The Plain-brown Woodcreeper is similar in appearance but has rufous wings, rump and tail.
It occurs in eastern Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
from Rio Grande do Sul
Rio Grande do Sul
Rio Grande do Sul is the southernmost state in Brazil, and the state with the fifth highest Human Development Index in the country. In this state is located the southernmost city in the country, Chuí, on the border with Uruguay. In the region of Bento Gonçalves and Caxias do Sul, the largest wine...
north to Bahia
Bahia
Bahia is one of the 26 states of Brazil, and is located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast. It is the fourth most populous Brazilian state after São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, and the fifth-largest in size...
. It is also found in north-east 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...
(Misiones Province
Misiones Province
Misiones is one of the 23 provinces of Argentina, located in the northeastern corner of the country in the Mesopotamiсa region. It is surrounded by Paraguay to the northwest, Brazil to the north, east and south, and Corrientes Province of Argentina to the southwest.- History :The province was...
) and eastern Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
. It inhabits the lower and middle levels of forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
and woodland
Woodland
Ecologically, a woodland is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of...
from the coast into the foothills. It feeds on arthropod
Arthropod
An arthropod is an invertebrate animal having an exoskeleton , a segmented body, and jointed appendages. Arthropods are members of the phylum Arthropoda , and include the insects, arachnids, crustaceans, and others...
s and often follows 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...
swarms in order to catch prey flushed by the ants. Unlike most woodcreepers, it will make sallies to catch insects in flight or snatch them from leaves.