Streaked Xenops (Xenops rutilans)

Identification & Behavior: ~12 cm (4.7 in). The Streaked Xenops has the head, mantle, and underparts streaked with buff. It has a buffy supercilium and white malar stripe. The bill is stubby with a heavily upturned mandible. The wing is blackish with a rufous middle band readily seen when the bird flies. The tail is rufous with black feathers towards the outer edges. It creeps on multiple directions on trunks and limbs in the canopy of the forest. It is similar to the Slender-billed Xenops but is distinguished by having a thicker bill with an upturned mandible, and by foraging higher in the canopy. These species are likely to overlap in southeast Peru. Also, see Wedge-billed Woodcreeper.

Status: The Streaked Xenops is uncommon in montane forests of the east slope of the Andes at elevations ranging between 600-2300 m. It also ranges onto the lowlands of southeast Peru. The Streaked Xenops also occurs in Co, Ec, Br, and Bo.

Name in Spanish: Pico-Lezna Rayado.

Sub-species: Streaked Xenops (Xenops rutilans guayae), Hellmayr, 1920.   lowlands of W Ecuador (S from Esmeraldas) and NW Peru (Tumbes, Piura).
(Xenops rutilans peruvianus) J. T. Zimmer, 1935.  Andean foothills in Ecuador and Peru (S to Puno).
(Xenops rutilans purusianus) Todd, 1925.  extreme E Peru, C Brazil (R Purús E to R Tapajós) and NE Bolivia (Pando).

Meaning of Name: Xenops: Gr. xenos= stranger and ops, opos= face, countenance. rutilans: L. rutilus= auburn, red, rutilans, rutilantis= of a glowing reddish color, reddening.

See more of the Family Furnariidae