Lafresnaye's woodcreeper (''Xiphorhynchus guttatus guttatoides'') is a resident

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by t ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

found in tropical

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

in the western and southern

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

and adjacent sections of the

Cerrado The ''Cerrado'' (, ) is a vast ecoregion of tropical savanna in eastern Brazil, particularly in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Tocantins, Minas Gerais, and the Federal District. The core areas of the Cerrado biome are t ...

. It is often considered a

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

of the buff-throated woodcreeper, but this combined "species" would be

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage of organisms or other evolving elements that is of mixed evolutionary origin. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which are explained as a result of converg ...

. It includes the dusky-billed woodcreeper (''Xiphorhynchus guttatoides eytoni''), which sometimes is considered a separate species (''see

Taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

Description

With a total length of 25–28 cm (10–11 in), this

woodcreeper The woodcreepers (Dendrocolaptinae) comprise a subfamily of suboscine passerine birds endemic to the Neotropics. They have traditionally been considered a distinct family Dendrocolaptidae, but most authorities now place them as a subfamily of th ...

is, together with buff-throated woodcreeper, the largest member of the genus ''

Xiphorhynchus ''Xiphorhynchus'' is a genus of bird in the woodcreeper subfamily (Dendrocolaptinae). Species It contains the following 14 species: The straight-billed woodcreeper and Zimmer's woodcreeper are now separated in ''Dendroplex''. References Exte ...

''. The wings and tail are rufous. The head, mantle and underparts are olive-brown streaked

buff Buff or BUFF may refer to: People * Buff (surname), a list of people * Buff (nickname), a list of people * Johnny Buff, ring name of American world champion boxer John Lisky (1888–1955) * Buff Bagwell, a ring name of American professional ...

(subspecies ''X. g. guttatoides'' and ''X. g. dorbignyanus'') or whitish (''X. g. eytoni'', ''X. g. gracilirostris'' and ''X. g. vicinalis''). The bill is long, slightly decurved, and hooked at the tip. The bill is mainly pale horn (''X. g. guttatoides'' and ''X. g. dorbignyanus'') or blackish (''X. g. eytoni'', ''X. g. gracilirostris'' and ''X. g. vicinalis'').

Ecology

The Lafresnaye's woodcreeper is restricted to forest and woodland. In its range, it is generally the commonest large woodcreeper. It is an

insectivore A robber fly eating a hoverfly An insectivore is a carnivorous animal or plant that eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects. The first vertebrate insectivores wer ...

s, which feeds on

ant Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of 22 ...

s and other

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

s and

spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

s. It feeds low in trees, usually alone, but groups will follow columns of

army ant The name army ant (or legionary ant or ''marabunta'') is applied to over 200 ant species in different lineages. Because of their aggressive predatory foraging groups, known as "raids", a huge number of ants forage simultaneously over a limi ...

s. The species builds a bark-lined nest in a tree hole or hollow stump and lays two white eggs.

Taxonomy

The

taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

is highly complex. It has often been considered a subspecies of the buff-throated woodcreeper, but

molecular A molecule is a group of two or more atoms held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions which satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemistry, and bioche ...

data indicates that this species is closer the

cocoa woodcreeper The cocoa woodcreeper (''Xiphorhynchus susurrans'') is a passerine bird in the woodcreeper subfamily of the ovenbird family. It was formerly considered a subspecies of the buff-throated woodcreeper (''X. guttatus''). Description It is typicall ...

than it is to Lafresnaye's woodcreeper.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 (2002b): Molecular Systematics and the Role of the "Várzea"-"Terra-Firme" Ecotone in the Diversification of ''Xiphorhynchus'' Woodcreepers (Aves: Dendrocolaptidae). ''

Auk An auk or alcid is a bird of the family Alcidae in the order Charadriiformes. The alcid family includes the murres, guillemots, auklets, puffins, and murrelets. The word "auk" is derived from Icelandic ''álka'', from Old Norse ''alka'' (a ...

'' 119(3): 621-640. DOI: 10.1642/0004-8038(2002)119 621:MSATRO.0.CO;
HTML abstract
/ref> Alternatively, the ''eytoni'' group (incl. ''vicinalis'' and ''gracilirostris'') has been considered a separate species, the dusky-billed woodcreeper (''Xiphorhynchus (guttatoides) eytoni''), but, despite its different looks, it is better considered a subspecies of the Lafresnaye's woodcreeper.

Biogeography Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, ...

and molecular data suggest that the relationship between these taxa and the buff-throated woodcreeper deserves further study. Remsen, J. Van (2003): 32. Buff-throated Woodcreeper. ''In:'' del Hoyo, Josep; Elliott, Andrew & Sargatal, Jordi (editors): ''

Handbook of Birds of the World The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. Th ...

, Volume 6: Broadbills to Tapaculos'': 429-430, plate 35. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

References

*Hilty, Steven L. (2003): ''Birds of Venezuela''.

Christopher Helm Christopher Alexander Roger Helm (born Dundee, 1 February 1937 – 20 January 2007) was a Scottish book publisher, notably of ornithology related titles, including the ''Helm Identification Guides''. Born in Dundee, he was raised in Forfar, w ...

, London. {{Taxonbar, from=Q939265

Lafresnaye's woodcreeper Lafresnaye's woodcreeper (''Xiphorhynchus guttatus guttatoides'') is a resident passerine bird found in tropical South America in the western and southern Amazon and adjacent sections of the Cerrado. It is often considered a subspecies of the b ...

Birds of South America Birds of Bolivia Birds of Brazil Birds of the Amazon Basin Birds of the Cerrado Birds of the Pantanal