Black-banded Woodcreeper

Overview

The black-banded woodcreeper (Dendrocolaptes picumnus) is a sub-oscine passerine bird belonging to the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found discontinuously from Chiapas, Mexico, to Panama and in every mainland South American country except Chile and Uruguay.

Identification

• A slim bird, 24 to 30.5 cm long, with a long tail and medium-length straight bill.
• Plumage features a dusky face and neck with buffy to tawny streaks, a dark brown crown, and an olive-brown back with fine pale streaks.
• Underparts include an olive-brown breast with bold buff streaks and a belly with strong black bars; the rump, wings, and tail are rufous-chestnut.
• Singing varies by region, ranging from a high-pitched descending chatter in Mexico to a slow rolling laughter in northern Central America.

Habitat

The species inhabits a wide variety of forested landscapes, including terra firme and floodplain forests in the Amazon basin, as well as pine-oak woodlands in Mexico and Central America. It mostly occurs in the interior of mature primary forest but is also found on edges and in mature secondary forest. Elevation ranges vary by region, generally between 500 and 3,000 m, though it can be found up to 3,000 m in Mexico.

Diet

The diet consists mainly of arthropods such as insects, spiders, scorpions, and centipedes, as well as small vertebrates like lizards and frogs. Amazonian populations forage by following army ant swarms, perching on vertical trunks and sallying to pick prey from the ground and foliage. They also forage alone or in mixed-species flocks at any forest level up to the sub-canopy.

Did you know?

In Amazonia, the bird sings a loud series of 15–20 rapidly delivered liquid notes described as 'kie-ie-ie--…ie-ee-eu-eu-er' or 'glü glü glü glü glü'.