Lesser Woodcreeper

Overview

The lesser woodcreeper (Xiphorhynchus fuscus) is a small bird in the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is a year-round resident found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay, and is currently listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

Identification

• A small, slim bird measuring 15 to 18.5 cm in length with a longish, slim, slightly decurved bill.
• Plumage features a dusky face with a wide creamy to yellowish buff supercilium and often a pale eyering, along with a blackish-brown crown spotted with yellowish buff.
• The underparts are smoky brown with a bold scaly appearance from dark-edged buff spots, while the flight feathers, rump, and tail are rufous-chestnut.
• The song is described as a fast, sharp rattle that stutters at the end, vocalised as "chit, chit, chit, chee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee, chit, chit-chit".

Habitat

This species inhabits a variety of forested landscapes, including lowland rainforest, humid montane forest, and in the south, forests dominated by Araucaria. It favours the interior and edges of primary forest and mature secondary forest, mostly occurring below 1,200 m but sometimes reaching up to 1,500 m. Its range covers southeastern Brazil south into southern and southeastern Paraguay and Argentina's Misiones Province.

Diet

The diet is predominantly, and possibly exclusively, arthropods. It forages mostly on tree trunks, particularly those with rough bark and moss cover, gleaning prey from dead leaf clusters and bromeliads. It feeds alone or in mixed-species flocks, occasionally following army ant swarms.

Did you know?

The lesser woodcreeper's song is notably punctuated by stutters, with the nominate subspecies stuttering at the beginning as well as the end of the rattle.