The ocellated woodcreeper is a species of bird in the subfamily Dendrocolaptinae of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.
Region
Amazon Basin and Andean foothills
Typical Environment
Occurs widely in lowland and foothill rainforests of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Prefers mature terra firme forest but also uses várzea (seasonally flooded) forest, tall secondary growth, and forest edges. Forages from lower to mid-canopy levels, especially on trunks, large limbs, and vine tangles. Often present in interior forest but may be encountered along shaded edges and riparian corridors.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 1600 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
A medium-sized woodcreeper of the Amazon Basin, it belongs to the ovenbird family (Furnariidae). Its distinctive 'ocellated' spots on the upperparts provide excellent camouflage against mottled bark. It typically ascends trunks and large branches in a spiral, probing bark and vine tangles for arthropods, and it often joins mixed-species flocks. It occasionally attends army-ant swarms to capture flushed prey.
Temperament
shy and cryptic
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats between trunks; mostly creeps and climbs
Social Behavior
Usually solitary or in pairs, frequently accompanying mixed-species flocks led by tanagers or woodcreepers. Nests in natural cavities or rotting stumps, lined with wood chips; both sexes likely share incubation and care. Territorial calls are given from midstory perches, and birds patrol regular foraging routes.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Song is a series of clear, fluty whistles that often descend slightly and may accelerate toward the end. Calls include sharp chips and mellow whistles used for contact within dense forest. Vocalizations carry well through understory and midstory habitats.
Plumage
Olive-brown to brown upperparts densely marked with buffy, roundish ocelli and scalloping; underparts brown with fine buff streaking on the throat and breast. Tail is rufous and stiff, adapted for bracing on trunks. Feathers appear sleek and close-fitting, enhancing a smooth, woodcreeper-like profile.
Diet
Primarily arthropods such as beetles, ants, cockroaches, orthopterans, caterpillars, and spiders; occasionally small vertebrates are taken. Forages by hitching up trunks and probing bark crevices, moss, epiphytes, and dead leaf clusters. Will sally short distances to grab disturbed prey and sometimes follows army-ant swarms to capture fleeing insects.
Preferred Environment
Feeds on vertical trunks, large limbs, and vine tangles in humid primary and tall secondary forests. Often works in the lower to midstory, especially in shaded interior forest and along quiet forest edges.
