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Another woodcreeper ID (1 Viewer)

Jacamar

Well-known member
I saw another woodcreeper today, but again, I am having trouble identifying it. Here are some pictures I took, I know they are not very good, but it is all I can do for now. It seemed to have a very white throat, and the spots(or streaks, I couldn't tell which) extended not quite halfway down the front. Thanks!
 

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Sorry, I don't think it is possible to id it from the pictures you've posted. Here are the things you should note in the future for this somewhat hard group:

1) Size (compared to other woodcreepers)
2) Bill colour and shape (long, short, heavy, gracile, straight, pointed etc.)
3) Extent of white (especially on head, lower belly and mantle) and type of colouring (streaked, spotted etc.).
4) General colouration (dark brown, warm rufous etc.). Many species have contrasting wings/tail and body
5) Habitat (primary/secondary rainforest, varzea, coastal dry forest, savanna etc.).
6) Where is it seen? Some species are almost always seen in the canopy, others prefer to be just a few meters above the ground (and many species are almost NEVER seen away from antswarms, i.e. Black-banded).

7) Voice is very good for id aswell. If you have a recording of the voice, they will often respond aggressively to play-back. Not usefull for id; but "pishing" also gives an aggressive responce in some of the species.

Finally, if I had to make the call from your photoes: It is one of the many members of Xiphorhynchus, most likely Straight-billed or Buff-throated (but may also be yet another species). I am not going to make a final call, as it would be nothing but guesswork.

**Added later: If people wonder how my guess on it perhaps being a Buff-throated Woodcreeper fits with what Jacamar describes as a "very white throat", it's because the population in Guyana belongs to the ssp. polystictus. They have white throats.
 
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Thanks for the advice Rasmus. I was sort of thinking it was the Straight-billed too; I just wanted an experts opinion. If I see it again I will try to be more careful to look at features. Also, do you know of a source that I could get a recording of it?
 
Sadly I don't save my own recordings of species if I have them otherwise in my collection. I'd have to refer to the "Birds of Venezuela" cd-rom by by Peter Boesman. It's very good, and the birds on the recordings are generally from Venezuela, i.e. normally same sub-species/variant as you would see/hear in Guyana. The problem is (especially in the group of woodcreepers), that even within one species, there can be a significant variation of the voice over the range. I.e. an individual south of the Amazon may sound completely different than the ones in Guyana. Both recordings of Buff-throated and Straight-billed are found on the Venezuala cd. It's a great cd, so I can truely recommend you buying it, though of course it may seem rather expensive. If you buy it, I'd advice that you buy it directly from the source (Sjoerd Mayers site, he took part in producing it):

http://www.birdsongs.com/

They can send it to Guyana aswell (I had cd's sent to Peru; no problems at all).
 
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