The tawny-winged woodcreeper is a passerine bird in subfamily Dendrocolaptinae of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama.
Region
Central America
Typical Environment
Occurs from southern Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and into Panama. Prefers humid lowland and foothill evergreen or semi-evergreen forests, including tall secondary growth and forest edges. Most frequently found in the shaded forest interior, where it moves along trunks, large limbs, and dense vines. Common around army ant swarms along forest floors and in ravines.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 1500 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
A quiet, forest-dependent woodcreeper, it often follows army ant swarms to snatch insects flushed from the leaf litter. It typically forages by hitching up trunks and large branches, probing bark crevices and tangles. Its warm tawny wings are a key field mark that contrasts with the otherwise plain brown body.
Temperament
shy and unobtrusive
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats; mostly hops and creeps along trunks
Social Behavior
Usually solitary or in pairs, occasionally joins mixed-species flocks. Frequently attends army ant swarms to feed on flushed prey. Nests in natural cavities or old woodpecker holes; both adults participate in care of the young.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Voice is a series of clear, whistled notes that may accelerate or descend slightly. Calls include thin, high-pitched tseet or peet notes given from shaded perches within the forest.
Plumage
Plain chocolate-brown body with distinctly warmer tawny to rufous wings and tail; throat slightly paler and sometimes faintly washed buff. Feathers are smooth and largely unpatterned, giving a clean, uniform look aside from the contrasting wings. Sexes are similar.
Diet
Primarily feeds on arthropods such as beetles, ants, spiders, roaches, and orthopterans. Gleans and probes from bark, vine tangles, and dead leaf clusters. At army ant swarms, it sallies to the ground or low perches to seize prey flushed by the ants. Occasionally takes small vertebrates when available.
Preferred Environment
Forages in the forest interior on trunks, large branches, and vine-laden understory. Often works along ravines and near ant swarms on the forest floor. Uses shaded, humid microhabitats with abundant bark crevices and dead leaves.
