Striped Treehunter

Overview

The striped treehunter (Thripadectes holostictus) is a species of bird in the ovenbird family Furnariidae, specifically within the Furnariinae subfamily. It is a bulky, dark furnariid with a thrush-like shape, found in the Andes of South America. The species is currently assessed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

Identification

• Length 20 to 21 cm and weight 38 to 49 g, with a bulky, thrush-like build and dark plumage.
• Mostly blackish-brown face with buff streaks merging to form a supercilium, and a crown with strong buff streaks.
• Bill is black, sometimes with a lighter base, and legs are olive-brown to greenish gray.
• Song is a fast series of nasal chattering notes that slightly descend and decelerate; call is a sharp 'kwi-di-dik'.

Habitat

Found in the Andes of western Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, with a somewhat disjunct distribution. It inhabits montane evergreen forest in the subtropical zone and highly favors thickets of Chusquea bamboo, though it also occurs locally in secondary forest. Elevation typically ranges from 1,500 to 2,500 m, but it has been recorded as low as 700 m in Colombia and as high as 3,150 m in Colombia.

Diet

The diet consists mostly of arthropods and may include small vertebrates. It forages in dense undergrowth, usually by itself, by gleaning and probing for prey in dead leaves and debris in the forest understory. It typically forages within about 1 m of the ground and may specialise in hunting in dead leaves.

Did you know?

The bird excavates a tunnel up to 1 m long in an earthen bank to build a cup nest of rootlets in the chamber at the end. The incubation period is 14 to 17 days, with fledging occurring 20 to 23 days after hatching.