Scalloped Woodcreeper Lepidocolaptes falcinellus Scientific name definitions

Restricted to the southern part of the Atlantic Forest biome, the Scalloped Woodcreeper was, until recently, usually treated as a subspecies of the Scaled Woodcreeper (Lepidocolaptes squamatus). They are, however, separable on the basis of their crown patterns, and the coloration of the back and tail. The Scalloped Woodcreeper occurs from northern São Paulo state southwards, reaching southeast Paraguay, northeast Argentina, and northeast Uruguay. It prefers moist forested areas over most of its range, but in the south it also regularly penetrates drier woodlands and Araucaria forests. Like its sister species, the Scalloped Woodcreeper is usually found alone or in pairs, often travelling with mixed-species flocks, and principally feeding on arthropods.

17–20 cm; 26–30 g. Medium-sized woodcreeper with relatively long, decurved bill  . Adult has lores, face and bold supercilium  creamy white, the last standing out conspicuously against blackish mottling of face; crown and nape  dusky to dull black boldly spotted with rich buff (often continuing indistinctly as streaks onto upper back), contrasting sharply with olive-brown to cinnamon-brown back and wing-coverts, and rufous-chestnut rump and tail  ; outer webs of remiges brown, inner webs chestnut, tips of primaries blackish-brown; throat whitish; underparts olive, extensively and broadly streaked buff, each streak edged brown to blackish (producing “scaly” pattern); underwing-coverts cinnamon; iris brown; upper mandible  grey, light brown or pinkish (base often darker), lower mandible creamy white to light brown; legs greenish-grey to greenish-brown. Distinguished from closely similar L. squamatus by darker crown, darker and more chestnut tail, more conspicuous whitish supercilium, streaks on crown and underparts deeper buff, crown streaks also significantly broader. Also similar to X. fuscus, but larger, pale regions are more whitish, streaking on underparts has crisp blackish borders, and back is virtually unmarked. Female has slightly longer bill than male. Juvenile undescribed.

S Brazil from NE São Paulo (S bank of R Paraíba do Sul) S to S Rio Grande do Sul, also adjacent SE Paraguay (Alto Paraná), NE Argentina (Misiones, NE Corrientes) and extreme NE Uruguay.

Occurs in humid Atlantic Forest from lowlands into mountains; also in drier Planalto Forest in W part of range. Mostly montane evergreen forest and rainforest on Atlantic slope; also Araucaria forest in S of range and, less frequently, semi-deciduous forest in SW. Frequents interior of mature forest, older second growth and forest edge. Primarily upper tropical zone from lowlands to 1600 m, rarely to 2000 m.

In a nest in Misiones, Argentina, insects  comprised at least 85% of the items brought to the nestlings, with a majority of caterpillars  (Lepidoptera) (1 Bodrati, A. and Cockle, K.L. (2011). Nesting of the Scalloped Woodcreeper (Lepidocolaptes falcinellus). Ornitología Neotropical. 22: 195–206. Close ). Generally forages  singly or in pairs, often in association with mixed-species flocks; present in nearly 10% of all flocks encountered at Atlantic Forest site in S São Paulo. Forages  chiefly along trunks  and branches from mid-levels to canopy, less frequently in understorey; sometimes creeps along undersides  of horizontal branches. Most prey  taken from epiphytes or bromeliads, bark crevices, mosses or other surfaces, but has been seen to sally to take aerial prey.

Call  a somewhat slurred rattle, described as “pit, eu-u-u”, “pee-u-u-u” or “peekku”, somewhat flatter in quality and more rattle-like than comparable calls of L. squamatus; lacks bubbling quality of L. angustirostris.

In S of range (Rio Grande do Sul), birds in breeding condition from early Nov to early Dec, in non-breeding condition in early Mar, and possibly nesting in mid-Dec. A nest in Misiones, Argentina, was in a long vertical crack, 2∙5 m high in the trunk of a cedro (Cedrela fissilis); nest lined with bark flakes to a height of 11 cm; 2 eggs, laid in mid Oct; incubation period 15–16 days; nestling period, 18–19 days; both parents brought food and brooded the nestlings (1 Bodrati, A. and Cockle, K.L. (2011). Nesting of the Scalloped Woodcreeper (Lepidocolaptes falcinellus). Ornitología Neotropical. 22: 195–206. Close ). Another nest in Paraná, S Brazil, was in a cavity in a living tree at c. 4 m above the ground; adults were recorded in early Nov entering with unidentified food items and exiting with a faecal sac (1 Bodrati, A. and Cockle, K.L. (2011). Nesting of the Scalloped Woodcreeper (Lepidocolaptes falcinellus). Ornitología Neotropical. 22: 195–206. Close ).