The southern long-tailed woodcreeper is a species of bird in 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 humid lowland and foothill rainforests across Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. It favors mature terra firme forest but also uses seasonally flooded várzea, taller secondary growth, and forest edges when canopy structure is intact. Often found along forested streams, in vine- and epiphyte-rich interiors, and in bamboo patches in foothills. It is generally absent from heavily fragmented or open habitats.
Altitude Range
0–1200 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
This woodcreeper is a slender, bark-gleaning specialist of humid Amazonian forests, where it often joins mixed-species flocks. Its notably long, rufous tail helps it balance as it ascends trunks and vines. Some authorities split the complex into northern and southern species; this form occupies much of western and southern Amazonia. It is sensitive to heavy forest degradation and is most frequent in mature interior forest.
Temperament
shy and unobtrusive
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats between trunks; mostly direct dashes within forest interior
Social Behavior
Usually solitary or in pairs, frequently accompanying mixed-species flocks moving through midstory and subcanopy. Forages by hitching up trunks and large branches, gleaning and probing bark, moss, and suspended dead leaves. Nests in tree cavities, often using old woodpecker holes; both sexes likely share parental duties.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Song is a soft, slightly descending series of thin whistles delivered from midstory perches. Calls include high, sharp tseet notes and soft trills given while foraging within flocks.
Plumage
Mostly plain brown to olive-brown upperparts with a warmer rufescent tail; underparts brown with faint dusky streaking on the head and upper breast. Feathers are smooth and sleek, aiding close contact with bark while climbing.
Diet
Primarily arthropods, including beetles, ants, spiders, and cockroaches, gleaned from bark, crevices, and dead foliage. Occasionally probes into epiphytes and tangles for hidden prey. May take small vertebrates very rarely.
Preferred Environment
Feeds on trunks, large limbs, and vine tangles in mature forest interiors and well-structured secondary forest. Often forages at mid-levels to subcanopy and sometimes near army-ant swarms along with other flock followers.
