WOODCREEPER

The 'woodcreepers', Dendrocolaptinae, comprise a subfamily of sub-oscine passerine birds endemic to the neotropics. They were formerly considered a distinct family, Dendrocolaptidae.
Generally brownish birds, the true woodcreepers maintain an upright vertical posture, supported by their stiff tail vanes, and feed mainly on insects taken from tree trunks. However, woodcreepers often form part of the core group at the center of flocks attending army ant swarms. Though unrelated, they superficially resemble the Old World treecreepers. Woodcreepers are arboreal cavity-nesting birds; 2-3 white eggs are laid and incubated for about 15 days.
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 and call are useful aids to determining species.

Contents

Systematics

References

External links

Systematics

The former family has been merged into the ovenbird family, Furnariidae. Analyses of mt and nDNA sequence data showed ''Sclerus'' leaftossers and ''Geositta'' miners to be basal to the Furnariidae ''and'' the woodcreepers (Irestedt ''et al.'' 2002). Maintaining Dendrocolaptidae as a separate family between them and the other furnariids created a paraphyletic Furnariidae, hence the merger.
Interestingly, the xenops, which were usually considered to be ovenbirds with a somewhat woodcreeper-like plumage, are in fact closely related to the latter (Fjeldså ''et al.'', 2005). They are best considered to form a separate tribe and give a good impression of how the ancestors of the woodcreepers must have looked like. The true woodcreepers are characterized by a belly feather growth pattern not found in any other birds.
The systematics of the Dendrocolaptinae were reviewed by Raikow (1994, based on morphology) and Irestedt ''et al.'' (2004, based on analysis of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences). As the latter paper revealed, the commonplace convergent evolution of bill morphology hampered Raikow's analysis. Color patterns, on the other hand, were more in agreement with the molecular data, but the generally drab coloration of the woodcreepers renders this character less informative than desirable. The work of Irested ''et al.'', on the other hand, was severely limited by unavailability of samples of many phylogenetically interesting taxa.
For example, the ''Deconychura'' species apparently belong into separate genera, but only ''D. longicauda'' was available for molecular analysis. Moving ''Lepidocolaptes fuscus'' to ''Xiphorhynchus'' restores monophyly of ''Lepidocolaptes'', and ''Xiphorhynchus'' was very much under-split (Aleixo, 2002a,b). ''Hylexetastes'' may contain anything from 1 to 4 species.
It remains unresolved whether the Scimitar-billed and Long-billed Woodcreepers' distinctiveness is due to strong selective pressure (and therefore rapid morphological evolution) of forms related to ''Lepidocolaptes'' and ''Dendrexetastes'', respectively, or to long-time evolution of distinct lineages which separated early in the evolution of the group, with genetic similarity due to long branch attraction. The data gained from the myoglobin intron II DNA sequence disagrees strongly with mtDNA cytochrome ''b'' sequence data regarding the validity of ''Lepidocolaptes'' in general Irestedt ''et al.'' (2004); as the latter agrees much better with morphological and biogeographical data it therefore is used here.
More detailed studies are needed to resolve these questions, namely reevaluation of morphological data in the light of the molecular findings, and new molecular studies which thoroughly sample the questionable genera.
'FAMILY FURNARIIDAE'

Subfamily 'Dendrocolaptinae' - woodcreepers
Tribe 'Xenopini' - 'xenops'

★ Genus ''Megaxenops'' - Great Xenops

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★ Great Xenops, ''Megaxenops parnaguae''

★ Genus ''Xenops''

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★ Rufous-tailed Xenops, ''Xenops milleri''

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★ Slender-billed Xenops, ''Xenops tenuirostris''

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★ Plain Xenops, ''Xenops minutus''

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★ Streaked Xenops, ''Xenops rutilans''
Tribe 'Dendrocolaptini' - 'true woodcreepers'

★ Genus ''Glyphorynchus''

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★ Wedge-billed Woodcreeper, ''Glyphorynchus spirurus''

★ Genus ''Dendrocincla''

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★ Tyrannine Woodcreeper, ''Dendrocincla tyrannina''

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★ Thrush-like Woodcreeper, ''Dendrocincla turdina''

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★ Tawny-winged Woodcreeper, ''Dendrocincla anabatina''

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★ Plain-brown Woodcreeper, ''Dendrocincla fuliginosa''

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★ White-chinned Woodcreeper, ''Dendrocincla merula''

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★ Ruddy Woodcreeper, ''Dendrocincla homochroa''

★ Genus ''Deconychura''

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★ Long-tailed Woodcreeper, ''Deconychura longicauda''

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★ Spot-throated Woodcreeper, ''Deconychura stictolaema'' - probably a genus on its own

★ Genus ''Sittasomus''

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★ Olivaceous Woodcreeper, ''Sittasomus griseicapillus''

★ Genus ''Nasica''

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★ Long-billed Woodcreeper, ''Nasica longirostris''

★ Genus ''Dendrexetastes''

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★ Cinnamon-throated Woodcreeper, ''Dendrexetastes rufigula''

★ Genus ''Dendrocolaptes''

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★ Northern Barred-woodcreeper, ''Dendrocolaptes sanctithomae''

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★ Amazonian Barred-woodcreeper, ''Dendrocolaptes certhia''

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★ Hoffmann's Woodcreeper, ''Dendrocolaptes hoffmannsi''

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★ Black-banded Woodcreeper, ''Dendrocolaptes picumnus''

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★ Planalto Woodcreeper, ''Dendrocolaptes platyrostris''

★ Genus ''Hylexetastes''

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★ Bar-bellied Woodcreeper, ''Hylexetastes stresemanni''

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★ Red-billed Woodcreeper, ''Hylexetastes perrotii''

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★ Uniform Woodcreeper, ''Hylexetastes (perrotii) uniformis''

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★ Brigida's Woodcreeper, ''Hylexetastes (perrotii) brigidai''

★ Genus ''Xiphocolaptes''

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★ White-throated Woodcreeper, ''Xiphocolaptes albicollis''

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★ Moustached Woodcreeper, ''Xiphocolaptes falcirostris''

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★ Great Rufous Woodcreeper, ''Xiphocolaptes major''

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★ Strong-billed Woodcreeper, ''Xiphocolaptes promeropirhynchus''

★ Genus ''Campylorhamphus''

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★ Greater Scythebill, ''Campylorhamphus pucherani''

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★ Red-billed Scythebill, ''Campylorhamphus trochilirostris''

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★ Brown-billed Scythebill, ''Campylorhamphus pusillus''

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★ Black-billed Scythebill, ''Campylorhamphus falcularius''

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★ Curve-billed Scythebill, ''Campylorhamphus procurvoides''

★ Genus ''Dendroplex'' - formerly in ''Xiphorhynchus''

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★ Straight-billed Woodcreeper, ''Dendroplex picus''

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★ Zimmer's Woodcreeper, ''Dendroplex kienerii'' - formerly ''Xiphorhynchus necopinus''

★ Genus ''Xiphorhynchus'' (possibly polyphyletic)

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★ Lesser Woodcreeper, ''Xiphorhynchus fuscus'' - formerly ''Lepidocolaptes''

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★ Spix's Woodcreeper, ''Xiphorhynchus spixii''

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★ Elegant Woodcreeper, ''Xiphorhynchus elegans''

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★ Juruá Woodcreeper or Ihering's Woodcreeper, ''Xiphorhynchus (elegans) juruanus''

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★ Tschudi's Woodcreeper, ''Xiphorhynchus chunchotambo''

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★ Ocellated Woodcreeper, ''Xiphorhynchus ocellatus''

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★ Chestnut-rumped Woodcreeper, ''Xiphorhynchus pardalotus''

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★ Striped Woodcreeper, ''Xiphorhynchus obsoletus''

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★ Spotted Woodcreeper, ''Xiphorhynchus erythropygius''

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★ Olive-backed Woodcreeper, ''Xiphorhynchus triangularis''

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★ Ivory-billed Woodcreeper, ''Xiphorhynchus flavigaster''

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★ Black-striped Woodcreeper, ''Xiphorhynchus lachrymosus''

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★ Buff-throated Woodcreeper, ''Xiphorhynchus guttatus''

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★ Lafesnaye's Woodcreeper, ''Xiphorhynchus guttatoides''

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★ Cocoa Woodcreeper, ''Xiphorhynchus susurrans''

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★ Lawrence's Woodcreeper, ''Xiphorhynchus (susurrans) nanus''

★ Genus ''Drymornis''

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★ Scimitar-billed Woodcreeper, ''Drymornis bridgesii''

★ Genus ''Lepidocolaptes''

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★ White-striped Woodcreeper, ''Lepidocolaptes leucogaster''

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★ Streak-headed Woodcreeper, ''Lepidocolaptes souleyetii''

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★ Narrow-billed Woodcreeper, ''Lepidocolaptes angustirostris''

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★ Spot-crowned Woodcreeper, ''Lepidocolaptes affinis''

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★ Montane Woodcreeper, ''Lepidocolaptes lacrymiger''

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★ Scaled Woodcreeper, ''Lepidocolaptes squamatus''

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★ Lineated Woodcreeper, ''Lepidocolaptes albolineatus''

References

★ 'Aleixo', Alexandre (2002): Molecular systematics, phylogeography, and population genetics of ''Xiphorhynchus'' (Aves: Dendrocolaptidae) in the Amazon basin. Ph.D. dissertation, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA. PDF fulltext

★ 'Aleixo', Alexandre (2002): Molecular Systematics and the Role of the "Várzea"-"Terra-Firme" Ecotone in the Diversification of ''Xiphorhynchus'' Woodcreepers (Aves: Dendrocolaptidae). ''Auk'' '119'(3): 621-640. DOI: 10.1642/0004-8038(2002)119[0621:MSATRO]2.0.CO;2 HTML abstract

★ 'Fjeldså', Jon; Irestedt, Martin & Ericson, Per G. P. (2005): Molecular data reveal some major adaptational shifts in the early evolution of the most diverse avian family, the Furnariidae. ''Journal of Ornithology'' '146': 1–13. [English with German abstract] (HTML abstract) PDF fulltext

★ 'Irestedt', Martin; Fjeldså, Jon; Johansson, Ulf S. & Ericson, Per G.P. (2002): Systematic relationships and biogeography of the tracheophone suboscines (Aves: Passeriformes). ''Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution'' '23'(3): 499–512. (HTML abstract)

★ 'Irestedt', Martin; Fjeldså, Jon & Ericson, Per G. P. (2004): Phylogenetic relationships of woodcreepers (Aves: Dendrocolaptinae) - incongruence between molecular and morphological data. ''Journal of Avian Biology'' '35'(3): 280-288. (HTML abstract)

★ 'Rajkow', Robert J. (1994): A phylogeny of the woodcreepers (Dendrocolaptinae). ''Auk'' '111'(1): 104–114. PDF fulltext

★ 'Remsen', J. Van (2003): Family Dendrocolaptidae (Woodcreepers). ''In:'' del Hoyo, Josep; Elliott, Andrew & Sargatal, Jordi (editors): ''Handbook of Birds of the World, Volume 6: Broadbills to Tapaculos'': 358-447. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. ISBN 84-87334-50-4

External links

★ Woodcreeper videos on the Internet Bird Collection