The brown-billed scythebill is a species of bird in the subfamily Dendrocolaptinae of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela.
Region
Central America to the northern Andes
Typical Environment
Occurs from southern Central America (Costa Rica and Panama) south through the Andean foothills and lower montane zones of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and northern Peru. It favors mature, humid evergreen forest but also uses well-developed secondary forest with abundant epiphytes. Within these forests it is most frequent on large trunks and limbs, in vine tangles, and in bamboo stands. It is generally uncommon to locally fairly common where habitat persists. Deforestation and fragmentation reduce its presence outside extensive forest.
Altitude Range
500–2000 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
This woodcreeper uses its long, scythe‑shaped bill to probe bark crevices, bromeliads, and bamboo for hidden arthropods. It is often associated with dense vine tangles and Chusquea bamboo in humid foothill and montane forests. Typically shy and unobtrusive, it may join mixed-species flocks but is most often seen singly or in pairs.
Temperament
solitary and territorial
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats with quick, direct dashes between trunks
Social Behavior
Usually forages alone or in pairs, moving methodically up trunks and along large branches. Frequently joins mixed-species flocks in the midstory to canopy. Nests are placed in natural cavities or rotting stumps, typically lined with wood chips; pairs defend nest areas during breeding.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
A series of thin, high, slightly descending whistles delivered in a measured cadence. Calls include sharp, high notes and soft contact whistles given while foraging.
Plumage
Warm brown upperparts finely streaked buff on the head and mantle, with rufous-chestnut wings and tail; underparts are duskier brown with faint streaking on the throat and breast.
Diet
Feeds primarily on arthropods, including beetles, ants, spiders, and larvae. It probes bark fissures, epiphytes, dead leaf clusters, and bamboo nodes with its long bill. Occasionally gleans from suspended vines and tangles and may sally short distances to pick prey.
Preferred Environment
Forages on large tree trunks and limbs in humid foothill and montane forest, especially where epiphytes and mosses are abundant. Readily uses bamboo thickets and dense vine tangles, and sometimes follows army-ant swarms to capture flushed prey.
