The little long-tailed woodcreeper is a species of bird in subfamily Dendrocolaptinae of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found from Costa Rica south to northern Colombia.
Region
Central America and northwestern South America
Typical Environment
Occurs from southern Costa Rica through Panama into northwestern Colombia, mainly in humid lowland and foothill forests. Prefers mature evergreen forest but also uses tall secondary forest and forest edges when structure is suitable. Usually forages from the mid-story to subcanopy, clinging to trunks and large limbs. It is tied to forested landscapes and becomes scarce where extensive clearing has occurred.
Altitude Range
0–1500 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
A small, slender woodcreeper that creeps methodically along trunks and large branches, often joining mixed-species flocks. It sometimes attends army-ant swarms to snatch flushed arthropods. Its song is a thin, high series of whistles that can be easily overlooked in dense forest. Despite its name, its tail is proportionally long for its size, aiding balance while climbing.
Temperament
solitary and quiet, sometimes in pairs
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats between trees; primarily a trunk-climber
Social Behavior
Typically forages alone or with a mate but frequently joins mixed-species flocks led by antbirds or woodcreepers. Regularly attends army-ant swarms to capture fleeing arthropods. Nests in natural cavities or old woodpecker holes, with a small clutch and both parents involved in care.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
A thin, high, slightly descending series of whistles, often delivered at dawn from a hidden perch. Calls include soft chips and short trills that can blend into background forest sounds.
Plumage
Mostly plain brown to rufescent-brown with finer, pale buff streaking on the face and upper breast; wings and long tail warmer rufous. Underparts otherwise fairly uniform with subtle mottling; upperparts smooth with minimal patterning.
Diet
Feeds mainly on insects and other arthropods, gleaned from bark, vines, and epiphyte mats. Probes crevices and scales bark for beetles, ants, spiders, and larvae. At ant swarms, sallies to the ground or nearby trunks to seize flushed prey.
Preferred Environment
Forages on vertical trunks and large branches in shaded interior forest and mature second growth. Uses mid-story to subcanopy strata but will descend lower around ant swarms or along forest edges.
