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Striped Treehunter | Thripadectes holostictus
Gestreepte boomjager | Trepamusgos listado | Barranqueiro-listrado
The Striped Treehunter is the most widespread treehunter of the Andes, a dark, densely streaked ovenbird of montane forest undergrowth. It lives mainly in bamboo and usually reveals itself by its nasal chatter rather than by showing itself. Three subspecies together range from Venezuela to Bolivia.
Voice
The song is a fast series of nasal, chattering notes that drops slightly and slows down. The call is a sharp kwi-di-dik.
Recording: Yair Guillermo Molina Martínez. — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto
Identification
20–21 cm, a bulky treehunter with a stout, dark bill. The upperparts are dark brown; the head, neck and upper back are densely streaked buff, and the rump and tail are chestnut. The throat is buff with dark edges, the breast dark with narrow buff streaks, and the belly olive-brown and less streaked. The sexes are alike.
Confusion species
Streak-capped Treehunter Thripadectes virgaticeps is larger, with streaks only on the head and a plain brown back. Flammulated Treehunter Thripadectes flammulatus and Peruvian Treehunter Thripadectes scrutator are larger and more boldly marked, with broader streaks, and usually live higher. Black-billed Treehunter Thripadectes melanorhynchus has a black bill and an almost unstreaked back and lives lower. Lineated Foliage-Gleaner Syndactyla subalaris is slimmer, with a thinner bill and a pale throat.
Habitat
The undergrowth of humid montane forest, especially dense Chusquea bamboo, locally also secondary forest; mostly between 1500 and 2500 m, in Colombia from 700 to 3150 m. It searches dead leaves, moss and bamboo for insects and spiders. It digs a tunnel up to about 1 m long in an earth bank, with a cup nest of rootlets at the end; the clutch is two or three eggs.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of the Andes and the west coast.
Range and movements
In Colombia in all three Andean ranges. In Ecuador on both slopes of the Andes; on the western slope south to Chimborazo. In Peru along the Andes over the whole length of the country, in the north to La Libertad, further south mainly on the eastern slope. In Bolivia on the eastern slope to the centre of the country. Absent from the Galápagos. Outside the guide area in the Andes of western Venezuela.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
Search bamboo-filled ravines and forest trails in montane forest, both in the northern Andes and in the Yungas. The bird moves low and slowly through the bamboo and is usually heard first.
Conservation status
Least Concern. The species has a large range, its numbers are believed stable and it occurs in several protected areas.
Scientific name
Thripadectes holostictus | (Sclater & Salvin, 1876)
Sclater & Salvin described the species in 1876 as Automolus holostictus; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Thripadectes was introduced in 1862 by Sclater. The genus name comes from Greek thrips 'woodworm' and dēktēs 'biter' (from daknō 'to bite'). The species name comes from Greek holos 'whole' and stiktos 'spotted', meaning 'streaked or spotted all over'. The specimen the first description was based on came from Medellín, Antioquia, Colombia.