woodcreeper
- Also called:
- woodhewer
woodcreeper, any of about 50 species of tropical American birds constituting the subfamily Dendrocolaptinae, family Furnariidae, order Passeriformes. Some authorities classify the birds as a separate family (Dendrocolaptidae). Woodcreepers work their way up the trunks of trees, probing the bark and leaves in search of insects; some species also feed on the ground. Most are 20–38 cm (8–15 inches) long (some smaller) and have brownish body plumage with pale streaks or bars on head and underparts; the wings and tail usually are reddish brown. In most species the laterally compressed bill is stout and moderately long; in a few it is downcurved or else wedge-shaped. The tail feathers are broad and stiff and serve as a prop in climbing. Flight from tree to tree is undulating.
Woodcreepers are solitary birds of forests, where they are detected by voice; some repeatedly utter harsh or sad notes and others trill. Their reproductive habits are little known, except that some species make nests of plant materials in tree cavities.
A typical form is the barred woodcreeper (Dendrocolaptes certhia), of southern Mexico to northern Brazil; it is 28 cm (11 inches) long, is heavy-billed, and has scalloped black markings. Xiphorhynchus woodcreepers, such as the ivory-billed woodcreeper (X. flavigaster) of Central America, are among the more prominently streaked woodcreepers. Like others of its genus, the plain-brown woodcreeper (Dendrocincla fuliginosa), of Honduras to northeastern Argentina, often follows marching ant columns, eating the insects and other creatures routed out by the ants. See also scythebill.
