White-throated Woodcreeper

Overview

The white-throated woodcreeper (Xiphocolaptes albicollis) is a species of bird in the ovenbird family Furnariidae, native to South America. It is one of the largest members of its subfamily and is currently classified as Least Concern by the IUCN Red List.

Identification

• Heavy-bodied and large, measuring 27.5 to 33 cm in length with a shortish tail and a long, decurved bill.
• Distinctive facial markings include a dark face with a whitish or pale buff supercilium and moustachial stripe, alongside a blackish cheek.
• Underparts are olive-brown to tawny with bold pale buff to whitish streaks on the breast and sides, while the throat is white to buffy white.
• Song consists of a slow, descending series of 4-6 high, sharp, double-noted whistles described as 'witjuu witjuu - -'.

Habitat

This species is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay, primarily inhabiting humid Atlantic Forest, though it also occurs in semi-deciduous forest and gallery forest in the cerrado. It favours the interior of primary forest but is regularly found at forest edges and in mature secondary growth, typically below 1,500 m but occasionally up to 2,000 m in elevation.

Diet

The diet consists mainly of arthropods but also includes snails, bird eggs, and small vertebrates. The bird forages mostly from the ground to the mid-level, hitching along trunks and branches to glean prey, flake bark, or probe bromeliads, and occasionally follows army ant swarms or joins mixed-species feeding flocks.

Did you know?

Although a specialist of humid forests, the white-throated woodcreeper is considered only moderately sensitive to human disturbance, which allows it to persist in relatively small fragments, older second growth, and selectively logged sites.