Olivaceous Woodcreeper (Sittasomus griseicapillus)

Identification & Behavior: ~22 cm (8.6 in). The Olivaceous Woodcreeper has a gray head, most of the underparts, and part of the mantle. The wing and tail are rufous. It does not have any markings. Birds on the west side of the Andes (Tumbes) are gray or brownish gray.  The bill is small and dusky. It forages on trunks and limbs in the midstory and sub-canopy alone or in the company of mixed species flocks. It is a miniature version of the Plain-Brown Woodcreeper but the Olivaceous Woodcreeper shows a contrast between the gray mantle and head and the rufous wing and tail. Also, see Wedge-billed Woodcreeper.

Status: The Olivaceous Woodcreeper is common and widespread in Amazonia where it is known to range up to 1700 m along the foothill of the Andes. It also occurs in the semi-deciduous forest of northwest Peru in Tumbes. The Olivaceous Woodcreeper also occurs in Co, Ec, Br, and Bo.

Name in Spanish: Trepador Oliváceo.

Sub-species: Olivaceous Woodcreeper (Sittasomus griseicapillus aequatorialis), Ridgway, 1891.  Pacific coast of South America, from W Ecuador (S from W Esmeraldas) S to extreme NW Peru (Tumbes).
(Sittasomus griseicapillus amazonus), Lafresnaye, 1850.  W Amazonia, both N & S of Amazon, from SE Colombia (S from S Meta, Vichada and Guainía) and S Venezuela (W & S Amazonas), S to E Ecuador, E Peru and N & W Brazil (E to R Negro and R Madeira, S to NW Mato Grosso).
(Sittasomus griseicapillus viridis), Carriker, 1935.  Amazonian Bolivia (Beni, La Paz, Cochabamba, N & E Santa Cruz).

Meaning of Name: Sittasomus: Sitta= Genus Sitta, Linnaeus, 1758, nuthatch. And Gr. soma, somatos= body. Sittasomus= one that has the body of a Sitta Nuthatch. griseicapillus: L. griseum= grey and capillus= capped or hair of the head.

See more of the Family Furnariidae