Sharp-tailed Streamcreeper

Overview

The sharp-tailed streamcreeper (Lochmias nematura) is a passerine bird in the ovenbird family Furnariidae, native to South America and Panama. It is the only member of its genus and is assessed as Least Concern by the IUCN, although its population is believed to be decreasing.

Identification

• Measures 13 to 14 cm in length with a long, slightly decurved bill and a very dark plumage overall.
• The nominate subspecies features a narrow ragged white supercilium, blackish lores, and a rich reddish brown back that blends into a blackish rump.
• The tail appears 'spiny' due to bare shafts at the feather tips, while the breast is dull dark brown heavily spotted white.
• Song consists of a series of dry notes that accelerate and ascend, maintain pitch, and then descend abruptly, with calls described as 'sea-sick' or 'tsiterit'.

Habitat

This species is always found near streams and small rivers with dense undergrowth. In mountainous regions of Panama, Venezuela, and the Andes, it inhabits montane evergreen forest between 700 and 2,800 m elevation, while in southeastern ranges it occupies lowland evergreen and mature secondary forest.

Diet

The bird consumes a wide variety of arthropods and tadpoles, with one record of an adult eating a frog. It forages singly or in pairs by walking and hopping on the ground, among leaf litter, moss on rocks, and in shallow streambeds to glean, probe, and toss aside leaves.

Did you know?

The species constructs a nest shaped like a ball of roots and twigs, lined with leaves, inside a chamber at the end of a tunnel in an earthen bank.