Narrow-billed woodcreeper facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Narrow-billed woodcreeper |
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| L. a. angustirostris in Entre Ríos Province, Argentina | |
| Conservation status | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Furnariidae |
| Genus: | Lepidocolaptes |
| Species: |
L. angustirostris
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| Binomial name | |
| Lepidocolaptes angustirostris (Vieillot, 1818)
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The narrow-billed woodcreeper (Lepidocolaptes angustirostris) is a cool bird that belongs to the ovenbird family called Furnariidae. You can find these birds in several South American countries, including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Suriname, and Uruguay.
Contents
Meet the Narrow-billed Woodcreeper: Description
The narrow-billed woodcreeper is a medium-sized bird, about 18 to 22 centimeters (7 to 8.7 inches) long. That's roughly the length of a standard pencil! Males usually weigh between 23 and 37.5 grams (0.8 to 1.3 ounces), while females are a bit lighter, weighing 21.5 to 33.5 grams (0.76 to 1.2 ounces).
These birds are quite slim, with a long, thin bill that curves slightly downwards. Both male and female woodcreepers look very similar. They have pale areas around their eyes and a light stripe above their eyes that widens towards the back. Their head and neck are dark brown with lighter streaks.
Their back and wing feathers are a reddish-brown color. Their wings and tail are a deeper reddish-chestnut. Their throat and cheeks are a plain whitish color. The chest and belly are whitish too, with some darker spots or streaks. Their eyes are brown, and their bill is usually pale gray or pinkish. Their legs and feet are greenish-gray.
Young woodcreepers look a bit different from adults. Their upper parts are darker, and their heads are more blackish. Their underparts are more yellowish-brown, and the streaks on them are clearer.
There are eight different types, or subspecies, of the narrow-billed woodcreeper. They mostly differ in how light or dark their feathers are and how many streaks they have.
Where They Live: Distribution and Habitat
Narrow-billed woodcreepers live in many different places across South America. For example, one type, L. a. griseiceps, lives in southern Suriname and possibly parts of northern Brazil. Other types are found throughout central and eastern Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Argentina. They also live in Uruguay.
These birds like to live in various open or partly open areas. You can find them in forests where trees lose their leaves, in woodlands and scrublands like the Gran Chaco, and in forests along rivers. They also live in areas that have grown back after being cleared, in special dry forests called caatinga, and in savannas known as cerrado. Sometimes, they even live in plantations and open parts of towns.
They usually live in lowlands, but in Bolivia, they can be found high up in the mountains, reaching altitudes of about 3,000 meters (9,800 feet).
How They Live: Behavior
Movement
Narrow-billed woodcreepers don't migrate. They stay in the same area all year round.
What They Eat: Feeding Habits
These woodcreepers mainly eat small creatures like insects and spiders. Sometimes, they've even been seen eating a small frog! They usually look for food alone or in pairs. They might also join groups of different bird species that are foraging together.
They climb up tree trunks and branches, often in a spiral pattern, starting from near the ground and going up towards the top of the tree. They find their food by picking it off surfaces, poking into cracks in the bark, and searching among epiphytes (plants that grow on other plants) and moss. Sometimes, they even peel off bark to get to hidden prey. They've also been seen catching moths around street lights!
Life Cycle: Reproduction
The breeding season for narrow-billed woodcreepers changes a bit depending on where they live, but it generally happens between September and February. They build their nests in holes, either natural ones in trees or holes made by woodpeckers. They might even use holes in human-made structures like bridge supports!
Their nests are usually less than 4 meters (13 feet) above the ground. They line these nests with leaves, grasses, or pieces of bark and wood chips. A female woodcreeper usually lays three or four eggs, though sometimes only two. Both parents help to incubate the eggs, which means they sit on them to keep them warm until they hatch. We don't know exactly how long the eggs take to hatch or how long it takes for the young birds to leave the nest.
What They Sound Like: Vocalization
The song of the narrow-billed woodcreeper is quite loud and lasts for about 3 to 5 seconds. It's a series of 4 to 8 sharp notes that go down in pitch. It can sound like clear whistles, like "peer, peer, peer, peeer, peeeer, pweeeer." Sometimes, it's a rolling, slurred sound like "drewEEew." Other times, it's clear notes that speed up, get quieter, and go down in pitch, like "peeé, pee-pee-pee-pee-peepeepeepeepupupu."
They also make different calls, such as a "slurred note," "jew-rewt," and "peah huy."
Their Future: Status
The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) has listed the narrow-billed woodcreeper as a species of "Least Concern." This means they are not currently at risk of disappearing. They live across a very large area, and even though we don't know their exact population size, it's believed to be growing.
There are no immediate threats to this bird species. They are considered fairly common in most places they live, though they might be less common in some areas. They seem to handle human activity quite well and don't seem to be negatively affected when forests are broken up into smaller pieces in southern Brazil.
 | William Lucy |
 | Charles Hayes |
 | Cleveland Robinson |
