Woodcreepers from Peruvian west-central lowlands (1 Viewer)

[Thibaud]

Hi,

I just came back from 2 weeks at the wonderful El Paujil biological station, in the Yanachaga Chemillen NP of central Peru. This is where the last Andean foothills drop down to Amazonia, and the station itself sits around 400 masl.

While I was there, I regularly saw mid-sized woodcreepers, which I think are Xiphorhynchus. Based on the few ebird checklists from the area, Elegant woodcreeper is the expected species, but looking at drawings and photos online, I am having a real hard time telling it apart from Ocellated.

More importantly, I'm not even sure that my photos are good enough to assign the birds to species! (First photo is one bird, the other 2 are another)

What say the experts?

Many thanks in advance.

Thibaud

 

[THE_FERN]

Could well be elegant (robust bill, apparent size) but the only sure way is by voice, I think.

 

[Thibaud]

Aha that makes good sense. Of course the birds I saw were quiet, and having listened to recordings of both, I can't remember with certainty whether I heard either at any point while there.