Woodcreeper
Woodcreepers | |
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Cocoa woodcreeper | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Furnariidae |
Subfamily: | Dendrocolaptinae |
Genera | |
16, see article text |
The woodcreepers (Dendrocolaptinae) comprise a
Woodcreepers range from 14 to 35 cm in length.[2][3] Generally brownish birds, the true woodcreepers maintain an upright vertical posture, supported by their specialized stiff tails.[4]
They feed mainly on insects taken from tree trunks. Some woodcreepers often form part of the core group at the centre of flocks attending army ant swarms. Woodcreepers are arboreal cavity-nesting birds; two or three white eggs are laid and incubated for about 15 to 21 days.[2]
These birds can be difficult to identify in that they tend to have similar brown upperparts, and the more distinctive underparts are hard to see on a bird pressed against a trunk in deep forest shade. The bill shape, extend/shape of spots/streaks, and call are useful aids to determining species.
Description
The woodcreepers are generally fairly uniform in appearance. They range in size from the wedge-billed woodcreeper (13 cm (5.1 in)) to the strong-billed woodcreeper (35 cm (14 in)). Males tend to be slightly larger than females on average, but considerable overlap in size occurs in most species. Pronounced sexual dimorphism in size and plumage is rare. Bill size and shape accounts for much of the variation between the species. Bills can be straight or highly decurved, and can account for as much as a quarter of the length of the bird (as happens in the long-billed woodcreeper). The plumage is usually subdued and often brown, or sometimes rufous or other dark colours. Many species have patterns such as checking, spotting, or barring on their plumage. The feathers of the tail are rigid and are used for supporting the body when climbing tree trunks;[5][4] the tail can support most of the body weight and birds that lose their tail find climbing difficult. Woodcreepers climb by flexing their legs and hopping up the trunk. The feet of the woodcreepers are also modified for climbing. The front toes are strongly clawed and toe IV is as long as toe III to increase the ability of the bird to grasp around branches.[4] The legs are short but strong.[3] Woodcreepers are also characterized by a belly feather growth pattern not found in any other birds.
Habitat and distribution
The woodcreepers are generally forest birds of Central and South America. Most species occur in rainforests, with the centre of diversity of the subfamily being the
Behaviour
Diet and feeding
The woodcreepers are insectivores that are mostly arboreal in nature. Insects form the majority of the diet, with some spiders, centipedes, millipedes and even lizards being taken as well. A few specimens collected by scientists had fruit or seeds in their stomachs, but plant material is not thought to be regularly taken by any species. A few species forage on the ground, but most forage on the trunks of trees, on and on the underside of branches. They are generally solitary or occur in pairs, but frequently join
Systematics
The former family has been merged into the ovenbird family,
The genus Xenops, which have usually been considered ovenbirds, represent an early divergence. Although some analyses suggested that they are more closely related to the woodcreepers than to true furnariids,[9] other studies have not found the same results.[8][10] Others suggested placing Xenops in its own family Xenopidae.[11]
Evolutionary relationships among woodcreeper species are now fairly well known thanks to the use of
DNA studies revealed that .
Additionally, the species-level taxonomy of several groups requires further study. Examples of "species" where vocal and morphological variations suggests that more than one species-level taxon could be involved are the curve-billed scythebill and the white-chinned, olivaceous, strong-billed and straight-billed woodcreepers. The genus Xiphorhynchus also requires much more research in this regard.[16][17] Hylexetastes may contain anything from one to four species.
A cladogram of the 16 woodcreeper genera based on the results of a 2020
Dendrocolaptinae |
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Tribe | Image | Genus | Species |
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Sittasomini – "intermediate" woodcreepers [8] | Certhiasomus Derryberry et al., 2010 |
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Deconychura Cherrie, 1891 |
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Sittasomus Swainson, 1827 |
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Dendrocincla G.R. Gray, 1840 |
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Dendrocolaptini – "strong-billed" woodcreepers [8] | |||
Glyphorynchus Wied-Neuwied, 1831 |
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Nasica Lesson, 1830 |
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Dendrexetastes Eyton, 1851 |
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Dendrocolaptes Hermann, 1804 |
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Hylexetastes P.L. Sclater, 1889 |
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Xiphocolaptes Lesson, 1840 |
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Dendroplex Swainson, 1827 |
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polyphyletic )
|
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Campylorhamphus W. Bertoni, 1901 |
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Drymotoxeres Claramunt, Derryberry, Chesser, RT, Aleixo & Brumfield, 2010 |
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Drymornis Eyton, 1852 |
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Lepidocolaptes Reichenbach, 1853 |
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References
- Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (January 2023). "Ovenbirds, woodcreepers". IOC World Bird List Version 13.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
- ^ ISBN 1-85391-186-0.
- ^ ISBN 84-87334-50-4
- ^ S2CID 205998536.
- S2CID 85776837.
- JSTOR 2096750.
- PMID 12099801.
- ^ PMID 34879609.
- S2CID 11581358.
- ^ PMID 21967436.
- PMID 24698900.
- ^ .
- JSTOR 4088509.
- .
- .
- ^ Aleixo, Alexandre (2002). Molecular systematics, phylogeography, and population genetics of Xiphorhynchus (Aves: Dendrocolaptidae) in the Amazon basin (PDF). Ph.D. dissertation, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA.
- S2CID 55344179.
- .
External links
- Woodcreeper videos on the Internet Bird Collection