Cocoa woodcreeper

The cocoa woodcreeper (Xiphorhynchus susurrans) is a species of bird in the subfamily Dendrocolaptinae of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela.

The cocoa woodcreeper is 21 to 25.5 cm (8.3 to 10 in) long and weighs 43 to 58 g (1.5 to 2.0 oz). It is a medium-sized member of genus Xiphorhynchus, with a long, fairly heavy, slightly decurved bill. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies X. s. susurrans have a mostly dusky face with buff streaks and a whitish supercilium. Their crown and nape are dark brown to blackish with longish buff spots that are streakier on the neck and nape. Their upper back and wing coverts are olive-brown to brown, with blackish-edged buff streaks on the back that narrow to nothing on the lower back. Their lower back, rump, tail, and flight feathers are rufous-chestnut, with dusky tips on the primaries. Their throat is whitish to pale buff with thin black scaling. Their breast, sides, and belly are reddish brown that becomes redder on the undertail coverts. Their underparts are grayish olive to buffy brown; their upper breast has dusky-edged buffy white spots that become thin streaks on the lower breast and disappear on the belly. Their undertail coverts are mostly unstreaked. Their underwing coverts are cinnamon. Their iris is dark brown, their bill mostly black with sometimes brownish gray in the middle of the mandible, and their legs and feet dark blue-gray, greenish gray, or yellowish gray. Juveniles are overall darker than adults and have a shorter and blacker bill, less bold spots on the crown, and wider streaks on the underparts.

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

"Cocoa" or "susurrans" group (typically spotted underparts)

X. s. jardinei, more rufescent back, deeper buff throat and underparts

X. s. margaritae, spots rather than scaly pattern on the throat

"Lawrence's" or "nana" group (typically streaked underparts)

X. s. nana, deep buff throat, bold streaks rather than spots on the breast and belly

X. s. confinis, more whitish throat, weaker but more extensive streaks than nana

X. s. costaricensis, darker and deeper reddish back and rump, darker and more olive underparts, reduced streaking compared to nana

X. s. marginatus, darker chestnut wings and tail, larger dusky tips on primaries, brighter buff throat, blackish edges on crown and nape feathers

X. s. rosenbergi, much like nana with wider and more boldly edged breast streaks