A medium-sized woodcreeper, found primarily in western Amazonia, south of the Amazon river. Lacks any truly distinctive visual features. Shows variable buffy streaking on head, back, and breast, and a scaly buffy throat. Bill is rather straight and typically dark grayish or silvery. Most easily identified by voice, a descending series of rather nasal notes, sometimes with a stuttered pattern. Typically seen singly or in pairs, often accompanying mixed-species flocks in the understory or mid-levels. Occurs in the lowlands and into the foothills of the Andes, usually in mature forest.