Spotted woodcreeper

The spotted woodcreeper (Xiphorhynchus erythropygius) is a species of bird in the subfamily Dendrocolaptinae of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama.

The spotted woodcreeper is 19 to 24 cm (7.5 to 9.4 in) long. Males weigh 40 to 54 g (1.4 to 1.9 oz) and females 40 to 46 g (1.4 to 1.6 oz). It is a medium-sized member of genus Xiphorhynchus, with a longish, slightly decurved and gradually tapering bill. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies X. e. erythropygius have dusky lores, a buff supercilium and eyering, and dusky olive ear coverts with buff streaks. Their crown and nape are dark olive to brownish olive with small buff spots and a narrow dusky edge. Their back and wing coverts are brownish olive to tawny brown with buff spots and wide buff streaks. Their rump is dark cinnamon-rufous and their flight feathers rufous-chestnut, with olive-brown edges and dusky tips on the primaries. Their tail is rufous-chestnut. Their throat is buffy with narrow dark olive barring. Their underparts are pale greenish olive with large buff teardrops that are lighter on the flanks and undertail coverts. Their underwing coverts are deep buff. Their iris is dark brown, their maxilla blackish to dark brown with sometimes a pale stripe on its cutting edge, their mandible whitish horn to pinkish gray, and their legs and feet blue- or greenish gray to slate gray. Juveniles are similar to adults but browner overall with less distinct spots on their underparts.

The other subspecies of the spotted woodcreeper differ from the nominate and each other thus:

X. e. parvus, smaller with more rufescent upperparts

X. e. punctigula, smaller and more greenish overall, fine streaks on forehead while crown and nape plain, fine streaks on upper back and otherwise plain upperparts, fewer and smaller spots on underparts

X. e. insolitus, like punctigula but with slightly darker upperparts and lighter rufous wings

X. e. aequatorialis, smaller and more greenish overall, buffier eyering, fine streaks on forehead, crown and nape plain, sparse fine buff streaks on upperparts, rufous rump, tail, and wings, spots (not scales) on throat, larger buff spots on underparts