Cocoa Woodcreeper
Encyclopedia
The Cocoa Woodcreeper is a passerine
bird
which breeds in tropical Central
and South America
in Trinidad
, Tobago
, northern Colombia
and northern Venezuela
. It was formerly considered a subspecies of the Buff-throated Woodcreeper
(X. guttatus).
It is typically 23 cm long, and weighs 37 g. The head and neck are buff-streaked dark brown, the upper back is liver-brown, and the rest of the upperparts, wings and tail are rufous. The underparts are olive-brown with buff streaks on the breast. The bill is long, black, slightly decurved, and hooked at the tip. The normal call is a loud kew-kew-kew-kew.
This woodcreeper
is a common and widespread bird of forests and cultivated land with trees. It builds a bark-lined nest in a tree hole or hollow stump and lays two white eggs. The Cocoa Woodcreeper is an insectivore
which feeds on ant
s and other insect
s and spider
s. It feeds low in trees or on the ground, usually alone, but groups of up to a dozen birds will follow columns of army ant
s.
, X. guttatus but has been recognized as specifically distinct. Eight subspecies are normally recognized, falling into two groups. It is not quite clear how these are related to each other and to the Buff-throated Woodcreeper.
Subspecies
Passerine
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...
bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
which breeds in tropical Central
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
and South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
in Trinidad
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...
, Tobago
Tobago
Tobago is the smaller of the two main islands that make up the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located in the southern Caribbean, northeast of the island of Trinidad and southeast of Grenada. The island lies outside the hurricane belt...
, northern Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
and northern Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
. It was formerly considered a subspecies of the Buff-throated Woodcreeper
Buff-throated Woodcreeper
The Buff-throated Woodcreeper is a resident passerine bird found in tropical South America in the Guiana Shield and disjunctly in the northern Atlantic Forest. It formerly included the Cocoa Woodcreeper and the Lafresnaye's Woodcreeper as subspecies...
(X. guttatus).
It is typically 23 cm long, and weighs 37 g. The head and neck are buff-streaked dark brown, the upper back is liver-brown, and the rest of the upperparts, wings and tail are rufous. The underparts are olive-brown with buff streaks on the breast. The bill is long, black, slightly decurved, and hooked at the tip. The normal call is a loud kew-kew-kew-kew.
This woodcreeper
Woodcreeper
The woodcreepers comprise a subfamily of sub-oscine passerine birds endemic to the Neotropics. They have traditionally been considered a distinct family Dendrocolaptidae, but most authorities now place them as a subfamily of the ovenbirds...
is a common and widespread bird of forests and cultivated land with trees. It builds a bark-lined nest in a tree hole or hollow stump and lays two white eggs. The Cocoa Woodcreeper is an insectivore
Insectivore
An insectivore is a type of carnivore with a diet that consists chiefly of insects and similar small creatures. An alternate term is entomophage, which also refers to the human practice of eating insects....
which feeds on ant
Ant
Ants are social insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130 million years ago and diversified after the rise of flowering plants. More than...
s and other insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s and spider
Spider
Spiders are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, and chelicerae with fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other groups of organisms...
s. It feeds low in trees or on the ground, usually alone, but groups of up to a dozen birds will follow columns of army ant
Army ant
The name army ant is applied to over 200 ant species, in different lineages, due to their aggressive predatory foraging groups, known as "raids", in which huge numbers of ants forage simultaneously over a certain area, attacking prey en masse.Another shared feature is that, unlike most ant...
s.
Systematics
The Cocoa Woodcreeper was formerly included in the larger Buff-throated WoodcreeperBuff-throated Woodcreeper
The Buff-throated Woodcreeper is a resident passerine bird found in tropical South America in the Guiana Shield and disjunctly in the northern Atlantic Forest. It formerly included the Cocoa Woodcreeper and the Lafresnaye's Woodcreeper as subspecies...
, X. guttatus but has been recognized as specifically distinct. Eight subspecies are normally recognized, falling into two groups. It is not quite clear how these are related to each other and to the Buff-throated Woodcreeper.
Subspecies
- "susurrans" group
- X. s. susurrans (Jardine, 1847) - Trinidad Cocoa Woodcreeper. Trinidad and Tobago, sometimes straying to the mainland.
- X. s. jardinei (Dalmas, 1900) - Eastern Cocoa Woodcreeper. NE Venezuela.
- X. s. margaritae Phelps, Sr. & Phelps, Jr., 1949 - Margarita Cocoa Woodcreeper. Isla MargaritaIsla MargaritaMargarita Island is the largest island of the state of Nueva Esparta in Venezuela, situated in the Caribbean Sea, off the northeastern coast of the country. The state also contains two other smaller islands: Coche and Cubagua. The capital city of Nueva Esparta is La Asunción, located in a river...
.
- "nanus" group
- X. s. nanus (LawrenceGeorge Newbold LawrenceGeorge Newbold Lawrence was an American businessman and amateur ornithologist.Lawrence conducted Pacific bird surveys for Spencer Fullerton Baird and John Cassin, and the three men co-authored Birds of North America in 1858.Lawrence left his collection of 8,000 bird skins to the American Museum of...
, 1863) - Southern Lawrence's/Cocoa Woodcreeper. Coastward areas of E PanamaPanamaPanama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
south to Tolima Department, Colombia, and east to MirandaMiranda (state)Miranda State is one of the 23 states into which Venezuela is divided. It is ranked second in population among Venezuelan states, after Zulia State. In June 30, 2010, it had approximately 2,987,968 residents. It also has the greatest Human Development Index in Venezuela, according to the...
, Venezuela. - X. s. costaricensis (Ridgway, 1888) - Central Lawrence's/Cocoa Woodcreeper. Coastward areas from SE HondurasHondurasHonduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
to W Panama. - X. s. confinis (BangsOutram BangsOutram Bangs was an American zoologist.Bangs was born in Watertown, Massachusetts and studied at Harvard from 1880 to 1884...
, 1903) - Northern Lawrence's/Cocoa Woodcreeper. Caribbean slope of E GuatemalaGuatemalaGuatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
and N Honduras. - X. s. rosenbergi Bangs, 1910 - Cauca Lawrence's/Cocoa Woodcreeper. Upper Cauca Valley, Colombia
- X. s. marginatus GriscomLudlow GriscomLudlow Griscom was an American ornithologist known as a pioneer in field ornithology.-Biography:Griscom was born in New York City, the son of Clement Acton Griscom and Genevieve Sprigg Ludlow. He was a protege of Frank Chapman, later working for Thomas Barbour at Harvard University's Museum of...
, 1927 - South Panamanian Lawrence's/Cocoa Woodcreeper. Pacific slope of C Panama.
- X. s. nanus (Lawrence