The sharp-tailed streamcreeper is a passerine bird of South America in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. Alternate names include streamside Lochmias, sharp-tailed creeper, and simply streamcreeper. It is found in Panama and every mainland South American country except Chile, French Guiana, and Suriname.
Region
Central and South America (Neotropics)
Typical Environment
Occurs from eastern Panama through much of mainland South America, absent from Chile, French Guiana, and Suriname. It inhabits humid forests along clear, fast-flowing streams, rivers, and waterfalls, often in steep ravines. Uses both primary and mature secondary forest where dense understory and mossy rocks provide foraging sites. It is common along shaded stream margins with exposed roots, logs, and boulders, and is rarely found far from running water.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 3000 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
A streamside specialist, the sharp-tailed streamcreeper keeps close to rocky, fast-flowing water where it forages among wet stones and leaf litter. Its stiff, sharp-pointed tail helps it brace on slippery substrates, much like a miniature woodcreeper. It is generally solitary or in pairs and is easily detected by its loud, ringing song echoing along forested ravines.
Temperament
secretive but active
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats, low and direct along streams
Social Behavior
Usually solitary or in pairs, maintaining linear territories along stretches of stream. Nests in burrows or cavities in earthen banks, often near water, with a cup of rootlets and fibers. Both sexes participate in territory defense and nesting activities.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
A loud, ringing series of clear, accelerating notes that carry well over running water. Calls include sharp chips and rattling notes given during agitation or territorial encounters.
Plumage
Overall dark brown to rufescent-brown with a contrasting whitish throat and breast heavily streaked or mottled dark. Upperparts are plain brown; underparts show scaly or streaked patterning that fades toward the belly. Tail feathers are stiff and sharply pointed, giving a spiky tail tip. Subtle buffy supercilium and dusky ear coverts frame a dark face.
Diet
Primarily takes aquatic and semi-aquatic invertebrates such as insect larvae (caddisflies, mayflies), beetles, and spiders. Also gleans small crustaceans, snails, and other tiny prey picked from wet rocks, logs, and leaf litter. Forages by hopping and probing into crevices, under moss, and among streamside debris.
Preferred Environment
Shaded, rocky stream margins, boulder-strewn cascades, and muddy banks within dense forest understory. Often forages on slick rocks and exposed roots right at the water’s edge and will venture onto partially submerged stones.
