Bamboo Foliage-gleaner

Overview

The bamboo foliage-gleaner, also known as the crested or dusky-cheeked foliage-gleaner, is a species of bird in the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is a year-round resident found in the lowlands and Andean foothills of South America.

Identification

• Approximately 19 cm long with a thick, medium-length bill and brown to dark brown irises.
• Dull reddish brown upperparts with faint scalloping on the crown, and a grayish brown face featuring a narrow grayish buff supercilium and a creamy white malar area.
• Gray breast and belly with olive-brownish flanks, and legs that are olive to yellowish olive.
• Song consists of a measured 'tcho-tcho-tcho-tcho-tcho...' with a variable number of notes, occasionally performed as an antiphonal duet.

Habitat

Found from southern Colombia through the western Amazon Basin in Ecuador, Peru, and western Brazil into Bolivia, with disjunct populations in central Brazil. It inhabits the interior and edges of humid primary and secondary forests, almost always near rivers and streams, favouring stands of Guadua bamboo and Gynerium cane. Elevation typically ranges between 200 and 1,000 m, though it reaches up to 1,300 m locally.

Diet

Feeds on arthropods, foraging almost entirely in the understory of bamboo or cane between 4 and 8 m above the ground. It hitches up and along vertical and horizontal stems, gleaning prey from branches, dead leaves, and suspended debris, often singly or in pairs.

Did you know?

One observed nest was described as a deep cup of thin dry plant fibers located in a natural cavity within a dead bamboo stem.