Streaked Xenops

Xenops rutilans

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 woodcreepers, it is a member of the South American bird family Furnariidae.

The streaked xenops is typically 4.8 inches (12 cm) long, weighs 0.44 oz (12 g), and has a stubby wedge-shaped bill. The head is dark brown with a whitish supercilium and malar stripe. The upper parts 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 look 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 forests in foothills and mountains between 2,000–7,200 ft (610–2,190 m) ASL, and will utilize secondary forests 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 arthropods such as the larvae of wood-boring beetles, but can also catch flying termites in mid-air. It joins mixed-species feeding flocks 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 (1.5–4.6 m) high in a tree. The normal clutch is two white eggs, incubated by both sexes.