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Ocellated Woodcreeper | Xiphorhynchus ocellatus
Amazonemuisspecht | Trepatroncos ocelado | Arapaçu-ocelado
The Ocellated Woodcreeper is a medium-sized, spotted woodcreeper of rainforest in the western Amazon basin and on the lower eastern slope of the Andes. The species comprises two groups: lowland birds in the northern and western Amazon, and birds of the foothills and adjacent lowlands from southern Colombia to Bolivia. The latter group is sometimes treated as a separate species (Xiphorhynchus chunchotambo); in this guide both belong to this species.
Voice
Varies strongly by region; it sings mainly at dusk and dawn and usually only a few times in a row. In eastern Ecuador the song is a fast series of nasal notes, in Peru a soft, accelerating series. Also various short calls.
Recording: GABRIEL LEITE — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto
Identification
20–24 cm, slim, with a long, nearly straight bill: the upper mandible dark, the lower paler. The upperparts are olive-brown; the crown and nape are dark with small buff drops, and the mantle is almost plain or only finely streaked. The rump, wings and tail are rufous. The throat is buff, sometimes with fine dark scaling. The breast has buff, dark-edged drops or streaks that fade on the belly; in foothill birds they are more streak-like. The sexes are alike.
Confusion species
Elegant Woodcreeper Xiphorhynchus elegans is very similar, but also has pale drops or streaks on the mantle. Buff-throated Woodcreeper Xiphorhynchus guttatus is larger, with a longer, heavier and paler bill. Striped Woodcreeper Xiphorhynchus obsoletus is smaller, with streaks rather than drops, and lives in flooded forest. Olive-backed Woodcreeper Xiphorhynchus triangularis has an olive, scaled breast and lives higher in montane forest. Voice helps to separate the species.
Habitat
The interior of humid rainforest, in the lowlands mainly terra firme, locally also várzea and swamp forest; foothill birds also in lower montane forest and cloud forest. Mostly below 500 m, on the eastern slope up to about 1800 m. It climbs trunks at lower and middle levels and searches bark, moss and dead leaves for insects and spiders, often in mixed flocks. The nest is in a cavity in a trunk.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of the Andes and the west coast.
Range and movements
Colombia: in the south, in the Amazonian lowlands and on the lower eastern slope of the Andes. Ecuador: on the lower eastern slope and in the adjacent eastern lowlands. Peru: in the lowlands of the north-east and along the base of the eastern slope throughout the country. Bolivia: in the foothills and adjacent lowlands of the north and centre, and in the far north-east. Absent from the Galápagos. Outside the guide area in southern Venezuela and western Amazonian Brazil.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
In the interior of rainforest and foothill forest, look for understorey mixed flocks and watch for a medium-sized woodcreeper with a spotted crown and an almost plain mantle. Record the voice and compare it with related species; the song differs by region.
Conservation status
Not Evaluated in this treatment. The Red List divides the species into several species, all of which are rated Least Concern. Deforestation in the foothills and lowlands locally affects its habitat.
Scientific name
Xiphorhynchus ocellatus | (Spix, 1824)
Spix described the species in 1824 as Dendrocolaptes ocellatus; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Xiphorhynchus was introduced in 1827 by Swainson. The genus name comes from Greek xiphos, 'sword', and rhunkhos, 'bill'. The species name comes from Latin ocellatus, 'with eye-spots'. The specimen the first description was based on came from Mouth of the Rio Madeira, Brazil.