The black-banded woodcreeper (Dendrocolaptes picumnus) is a sub-oscine passerine bird in subfamily Dendrocolaptinae of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found discontinuously from Chiapas, Mexico, to Panama and in every mainland South American country except Chile and Uruguay.
Taxonomy and systematics
The black-banded woodcreeper's taxonomy is unsettled. The International Ornithological Committee (IOC) and the Clements taxonomy recognize these 10 subspecies. Clements arranges them in three groups.
"Spot-throated" group
D. p. puncticollis Sclater, PL & Salvin, 1868
D. p. seilerni Hartert, EJO & Goodson, 1917
D. p. olivaceus Zimmer, JT, 1934
"Black-banded" group
D. p. costaricensis Ridgway, 1909
D. p. multistrigatus Eyton, 1851
D. p. validus Tschudi, 1844
D. p. picumnus Lichtenstein, MHC, 1820
D. p. transfasciatus Todd, 1925
"Pale-billed" group
D. p. pallescens Pelzeln, 1868
D. p. casaresi Steullet & Deautier, 1950
BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) does not recognize D. p. casaresi, apparently including it within D. p. pallescens.
Subspecies D. p. transfasciatus and D. p. pallescens were each treated as separate species by some early 20th century authors but have been included in D. picumnus since about the middle of that century. D. p. transfasciatus is also sometimes proposed as a separate species. Further splits of the current 10 subspecies have been proposed but not accepted.
The black-banded woodcreeper's closest relatives are Hoffmanns's woodcreeper (D. hoffmannsi) and the planalto woodcreeper (D. platyrostris). Several authors have suggested that the three are conspecific. Others have suggested that D. p. pallescens is a species with D. hoffmannsi as a subspecies. Early 21st century publications posit that the black-banded woodcreeper should be split into at least two species that are paraphyletic with respect to D. hoffmannsi and D. platyrostris.
This article follows the 10-subspecies model.
Description
The black-banded woodcreeper is one of the larger members of its subfamily. It is slim, with a long tail and a medium-length straight bill. It is long. Males weigh and females . The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies D. p. picumnus have a dusky face and neck with buffy to tawny streaks and a faint supercilium and eyering. Their forehead, crown, and nape are dark brown; the crown and nape have buff to tawny streaks. Their back, scapulars and wing coverts are olive-brown; their back has fine pale streaks and faint dark bars and the coverts have pale streaks and dark bands near their ends. Their rump, wings, and tail are rufous-chestnut with dusky tips on the primaries. Their throat is whitish to deep buff with faint streaks or mottling. Their breast is olive-brown with bold buff streaks and an underlayment of spots or bars. Their belly, flanks, and undertail coverts are buffy brown with strong black bars and their underwing coverts are brighter buffy brown with blackish bars. Their iris is dark brown, their bill black with lighter edges and base to the mandible, and their legs and feet brown to greenish gray. Juveniles are similar to adults but fluffier, with bolder streaks and bars on the upperparts, weaker barring on the underparts, and a darker crown that is more spotted than streaked.
The other subspecies differ from the nominate and each other thus:
D. p. puncticollis, blackish crown with fine streaks, narrow streaks on otherwise clear breast, fewer bars on belly D. p. seilerni, compared to puncticollis, browner crown, more streaking on breast D. p. olivaceus, like seilerni but more olivaceous underparts, lighter brown crown, stronger streaks on back, buffier streaks on crown and breast D. p. multistrigatus, smaller, fainter streaks above, finer bars below, more but narrower streaks on breast D. p. costaricensis, like multistrigatus with more bars and spots and fewer streaks on underparts D. p. validus, no barring on upperparts or breast, brownish maxilla and paler mandible D. p. transfasciatus, blackish crown, bold golden streaks above and white streaks below, weak barring on back and wing coverts, spotted rather than barred belly D. p. pallescens, crown and breast more rufescent with little or no streaking, rest of underparts bright rusty to plain brown, indistinct bars on belly, pale olive to bluish horn bill D. p. casaresi, like pallescens but slightly larger with a longer bill
Distribution and habitat
The subspecies of the black-banded woodcreeper are found thus: