Streaked Xenops
Encyclopedia
The Streaked Xenops, Xenops rutilans, is a passerine
bird
which breeds in the tropical New World
from Costa Rica
and Trinidad
south to Bolivia
and northern Argentina
. Like the closely related true woodcreeper
s, it is a member of the South America
n bird family
Furnariidae.
The Streaked Xenops is typically 4.8 in (12.2 cm) long, weighs 0.44 oz (12.6 g), and has a stubby wedge-shaped bill. The head is dark brown with a whitish supercilium and malar stripe. The upperparts are brown, becoming rufous on the tail and rump, and there is a buff bar on the darker brown wings. The underparts are white-streaked olive brown. Males and females looks alike. Visually inconspicuous, it is easier located by its chattering call, a series of 5 or 6 metallic zeet notes.
It is found in wet forest
s in foothills and mountains between 2,000-7,200 ft (600-2,200 m) ASL
, and will utilize secondary forest
s and opened-up growth. The Streaked Xenops is often difficult to see as it forages on bark, rotting stumps or bare twigs; it moves in all directions on the trunk like a treecreeper
, but does not use its tail as a prop. It feeds on arthropod
s such as the larvae of wood-boring beetle
s, but can also catch flying termite
s in mid-air. It joins mixed-species feeding flock
s on a more or less regular basis depending on location, usually moving through the middle levels of the forest.
The Streaked Xenops builds its nest by simply placing a few stems and roots in a hole 5–15 ft (1.5-4.5 m) high in a tree. The normal clutch is two white egg
s, incubated by both sexes.
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 the tropical New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
from Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
and 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...
south to Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
and northern Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
. Like the closely related true 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...
s, it is a member of the 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...
n bird family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Furnariidae.
The Streaked Xenops is typically 4.8 in (12.2 cm) long, weighs 0.44 oz (12.6 g), and has a stubby wedge-shaped bill. The head is dark brown with a whitish supercilium and malar stripe. The upperparts are brown, becoming rufous on the tail and rump, and there is a buff bar on the darker brown wings. The underparts are white-streaked olive brown. Males and females looks alike. Visually inconspicuous, it is easier located by its chattering call, a series of 5 or 6 metallic zeet notes.
It is found in wet forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
s in foothills and mountains between 2,000-7,200 ft (600-2,200 m) ASL
Above mean sea level
The term above mean sea level refers to the elevation or altitude of any object, relative to the average sea level datum. AMSL is used extensively in radio by engineers to determine the coverage area a station will be able to reach...
, and will utilize secondary forest
Secondary forest
A secondary forest is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a major disturbance such as fire, insect infestation, timber harvest or windthrow, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident...
s and opened-up growth. The Streaked Xenops is often difficult to see as it forages on bark, rotting stumps or bare twigs; it moves in all directions on the trunk like a treecreeper
Treecreeper
The treecreepers are a family, Certhiidae, of small passerine birds, widespread in wooded regions of the Northern Hemisphere and sub-Saharan Africa. The family contains ten species in two genera, Certhia and Salpornis...
, but does not use its tail as a prop. It feeds on arthropod
Arthropod
An arthropod is an invertebrate animal having an exoskeleton , a segmented body, and jointed appendages. Arthropods are members of the phylum Arthropoda , and include the insects, arachnids, crustaceans, and others...
s such as the larvae of wood-boring beetle
Beetle
Coleoptera is an order of insects commonly called beetles. The word "coleoptera" is from the Greek , koleos, "sheath"; and , pteron, "wing", thus "sheathed wing". Coleoptera contains more species than any other order, constituting almost 25% of all known life-forms...
s, but can also catch flying termite
Termite
Termites are a group of eusocial insects that, until recently, were classified at the taxonomic rank of order Isoptera , but are now accepted as the epifamily Termitoidae, of the cockroach order Blattodea...
s in mid-air. It joins mixed-species feeding flock
Mixed-species feeding flock
A mixed-species feeding flock, also termed a mixed-species foraging flock, mixed hunting party or informally bird wave, is a flock of usually insectivorous birds of different species, that join each other and move together while foraging...
s on a more or less regular basis depending on location, usually moving through the middle levels of the forest.
The Streaked Xenops builds its nest by simply placing a few stems and roots in a hole 5–15 ft (1.5-4.5 m) high in a tree. The normal clutch is two white egg
Egg (biology)
An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, molluscs, fish, and monotremes, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum, which is expelled from the body and permitted to develop outside the body until the developing...
s, incubated by both sexes.
External links
- Streaked Xenops videos, photos & sounds on the Internet Bird Collection