Cocoa Woodcreeper - BirdForum Opus

Subspecies costaricensis
Photo by Stanley Jones
Osa Peninsula, Puntarenas Province, Costa Rica, February 2015

Xiphorhynchus susurrans

Identification

22·5–25·5 cm (9-10 in)

Liver brown upper back
Dark brown, buff streaked, head and neck
Rufous upperparts, wings and tail
Olive-brown underparts
Buff streaked breast
Long black decurved bill with hooked tip

Distribution

Central and South America
Central America: Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago
South America: Colombia and Venezuela

Taxonomy

Formerly considered conspecific with Buff-throated Woodcreeper (X. guttatus), and still called Buff-throated in some current field guides for Central America.^[1]. The latter is found only in South America.

Subspecies susurrans
Photo by revs45
Adventure Farm, Tobago, October 2011

Subspecies

There are 8 subspecies:^[2]

X. s. confinis:

Caribbean slope of eastern Guatemala and northern Honduras

X. s. costaricensis:

South-eastern Honduras to Nicaragua, Costa Rica and western Panama

X. s. marginatus:

Eastern Panama (eastern Chiriquí, Veraguas and western Azuero Peninsula)

X. s.s nanus:

Both slope of eastern Panama to northern Colombia and western Venezuela

X. s. rosenbergi:

Western Colombia (upper Cauca Valley in Valle)

X. s. jardinei:

North-eastern Venezuela (north-eastern Anzoátegui, Sucre and northern Monagas)

X. s. margaritae:

Isla Margarita (off northern Venezuela)

X. s. susurrans:

Trinidad and Tobago; one record from north-eastern Venezuela (se Sucre)

Habitat

Humid lowland forest, primary and mature secondary woodland and urban woodland. Observed at heights around 622 m (2,042 ft) elevation.

Behaviour

Breeding

It nests in tree holes or hollow stumps, lined with bark. The clutch consists of 2 white eggs.

Diet

The diet includes insects, ants and spiders. It will follow columns of army ants. Creeps up tree trunks flaking off loose bark in its search for invertebrates.

Vocalisation

Call: kew-kew-kew-kew.

References

Del Hoyo, J, A Elliott, and D Christie, eds. 2007. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 12: Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8496553422
Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2014. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.9., with updates to August 2014. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved August 2015)

List of references

Recommended Citation

BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Cocoa Woodcreeper. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 16 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Cocoa_Woodcreeper

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