The black-striped woodcreeper is a species of bird in the subfamily Dendrocolaptinae of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Panama.
Region
Central America to the Chocó of Colombia and northwestern Ecuador
Typical Environment
Occurs from southeastern Nicaragua through Costa Rica and Panama into western Colombia and northwestern Ecuador. Favors humid lowland and foothill evergreen forests, especially mature primary forest but also tall secondary growth. Uses interior forest, edges, and riparian corridors with good canopy connectivity. Often forages on heavily epiphyte-laden trees and along large vines. Local presence depends on intact forest cover.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 1500 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
This woodcreeper often joins mixed-species flocks and will sometimes follow army ant swarms to snatch flushed insects. It forages by hitching up trunks and large limbs, probing into bark crevices and epiphytes. The species is sensitive to heavy forest fragmentation and is most common in large tracts of mature humid forest. Sexes look alike, with minimal dimorphism.
Temperament
shy and inconspicuous
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats between trunks
Social Behavior
Typically encountered singly or in pairs within territories, frequently accompanying mixed-species flocks. Nests in tree cavities or rotting trunks, with both adults participating in care. Territorial songs and calls are given from mid-story perches.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Delivers a clear, ringing series of whistles that may descend slightly in pitch. Calls include sharp, piercing notes used for contact within pairs and flocks.
Plumage
Warm brown upperparts with bold blackish streaks and buff edging; underparts buffy to olive with heavy black streaking. Wings and tail are rufous-chestnut, typical of many woodcreepers. Bill long, slightly decurved with a paler lower mandible.
Diet
Primarily arthropods such as beetles, ants, cockroaches, spiders, and other insects taken from bark, moss, and leaf litter on trunks and branches. Occasionally captures small vertebrates like tiny lizards or frogs. Often capitalizes on prey flushed by army ants or mixed-species flocks.
Preferred Environment
Feeds on tree trunks, large limbs, and in vine tangles within the shaded interior of humid forest. Also forages along well-vegetated forest edges and riparian forest with continuous canopy.
