- Sittasomus griseicapillus
Identification
13–19·5 cm (5-7¾ in)
- Greyish-olive head, upper back and underparts
- Pale rufous wings, tail and lower back
- Short thin bill
Distribution
Central and South America
Central America: found in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Tobago
South America: Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina
Taxonomy
Photo © by Stanley Jones
Buenaventura Reserve, El Oro Province, Ecuador, November 2014
It is the only member of the genus Sittasomus, but the taxon includes several vocally and morphologically distinct forms, so this species may be split in the future.
Subspecies
15 subspecies are recognized[1]:
- S. g. jaliscensis: Mexico (Nayarit and San Luis Potosí to Isthmus of Tehuantepec)
- S. g. sylvioides: Southern Mexico to north-western Colombia
- S. g. gracileus: South-eastern Mexico (Yucatán Peninsula) northern Belize and adjacent northern Guatemala
- S. g.s perijanus: North-eastern Colombia and extreme north-western Venezuela (Sierra de Perijá)
- S. g. tachirensis: Northern Colombia and western Venezuela (south-western Táchira)
- S. g. griseus: Eastern Andes and coastal ranges of northern Venezuela; Tobago
- S. g. aequatorialis: Western Ecuador (western Esmeraldas) to extreme north-western Peru (Tumbes)
- S. g. amazonus: Tropical eastern Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Amazonian Brazil
- S. g. axillaris: Tropical south-eastern Venezuela to Guianas and extreme northern Brazil
- S. g. transitivus: South-eastern Amazonian Brazil to north-eastern Mato Grosso
- S. g. viridis: Amazonian Bolivia (La Paz, Beni, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz)
- S. g. griseicapillus: Western Brazil to Paraguay, northern Argentina and southern Bolivia
- S. g. reiseri: North-eastern Brazil (Maranhão and Piauí to northern Goiás and western Bahia)
- S. g. olivaceus: Coastal eastern Brazil (south-eastern Bahia)
- S. g. sylviellus: South-eastern Brazil to north-eastern Argentina, south-eastern Paraguay and north-eastern Uruguay
Habitat
A variety of wooded habitat, including tropical cloud forest. Observed at heights around 800 m.
Behaviour
Breeding
The nest is lined with dead leaves and placed in a natural tree hole (not an old woodpecker hole). The clutch consists of 3 white eggs. Usually, only one parent tends the young.
Diet
The diet consists mostly of insects and arthropods. Occasionally plant matter is consumed too. They normally forage alone on tree trunks and large branches; sometimes on the ground.
Vocalisation
Call: a fast, high-pitched trill wu-wu-wu-we-we-we-we-ee-ee-ee-ee-we-we-we-we.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Bodrati et al. 2012. Ornithologia Neotropical 23(3):325-334
- Avibase
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved March 2015 & June 2017)
- Wikipedia
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Olivaceous Woodcreeper. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 3 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Olivaceous_Woodcreeper
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.
