The olive-backed woodcreeper is a species of bird in the subfamily Dendrocolaptinae of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.
Region
Andes Mountains
Typical Environment
Occurs along the Andean slope forests of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. It inhabits humid evergreen and mossy montane forests, as well as mature secondary forest and forest edges. Most activity is in the midstory to canopy, where it forages along trunks, large limbs, and vine tangles. It is typically more numerous in well-forested landscapes and is scarce or absent in heavily fragmented areas.
Altitude Range
600–2600 m
Climate Zone
Highland
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
This Andean woodcreeper uses its long, decurved bill to probe bark, moss, and epiphytes for hidden arthropods while hitching up trunks and large branches. It frequently joins mixed-species flocks in humid montane forests, moving methodically through the midstory and canopy. Presence is often an indicator of relatively intact forest, and several subspecies vary subtly in tone and streaking across its range.
Temperament
secretive and methodical
Flight Pattern
short, direct flights with rapid wingbeats between trunks; mostly creeps rather than flies
Social Behavior
Usually seen singly or in pairs, often accompanying mixed-species flocks moving through the forest. Pairs defend territories and nest in natural cavities or crevices, lining them with plant fibers. Both sexes likely share in nest maintenance and chick provisioning.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Song is a short series of thin, clear, slightly descending whistles delivered from mid-canopy perches. Calls include high, sharp notes and soft, sibilant chips exchanged with a mate when foraging nearby.
Plumage
Mostly olive-brown above with a dusky-olive back and fine buffy streaking on the head and upper breast; wings and tail are warm rufous. Underparts are brownish with faint, narrow buff streaks, more pronounced on the throat and upper breast. Feathers appear smooth and sleek, aiding a streamlined profile on trunks.
Diet
Feeds mainly on arthropods such as beetles, spiders, ants, and larvae gleaned from bark, moss, and epiphytes. It probes deep into crevices and among bromeliads and lichens, occasionally snapping up small vertebrates. It sometimes takes advantage of prey flushed by mixed-species flocks and, less frequently, by small army-ant swarms.
Preferred Environment
Forages on trunks, large branches, and vine tangles in the midstory and canopy of humid montane forest. Uses moss-laden substrates and epiphyte mats extensively, especially in older forest.
