The buff-throated woodcreeper (Xiphorhynchus guttatus) is a species of bird in the subfamily Dendrocolaptinae of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.

Taxonomy and systematics

What is now the cocoa woodcreeper (X. susurrans) of Central America and northwestern South America was long considered conspecific with the buff-throated woodcreeper, but since the 1990s has been treated as a distinct species. The two form a superspecies.

The buff-throated woodcreeper's remaining taxonomy is unsettled. The South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society, the International Ornithological Committee (IOC), and the Clements taxonomy assign it these eight subspecies. Clements subdivides them into three groups.

"Buff-throated" group

  • X. g. polystictus <small>(Salvin & Goodman, 1883)</small>
  • X. g. connectens <small>Todd, 1948</small>
  • X. g. guttatus <small>(Lichtenstein, MHC, 1820)</small>

"Lafresnaye's" group

  • X. g. guttatoides <small>(Lafresnaye, 1850)</small>
  • X. g. dorbignyanus <small>Lafresnaye, 1850)</small>

"Dusky-billed" group, also called the "eytoni" group

  • X. g. eytoni <small>Sclater, PL, 1854</small>
  • X. g. vicinalis <small>Todd, 1948</small>
  • X. g. gracilirostris <small>Pinto & Camargo, 1957</small>

Birdlife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) assigns the five subspecies of the "Lafresnaye's" and "dusky-billed" groups to "Lafresnaye's woodcreeper" (X. guttatoides), retaining only the three "buff-throated" subspecies within X. guttatus.

Other authors treat the "Lafresnaye's" and "dusky-billed" groups as separate species, and they appear to be more closely related to each other than to the superspecies formed by the "buff-throated" group and the cocoa woodcreeper. Subspecies X. g. gracilirostris is almost indistinguishable from eytoni and some authors do not accept it. Biogeography and molecular data suggest that the relationships among all eight subspecies and the taxa now included in X. susurrans deserve further study.

Depending on the outcome of these studies, the name buff-throated woodcreeper could be restricted to X. g. guttatus alone, which is endangered by habitat fragmentation, making a change in conservation status necessary.

The other subspecies of the buff-throated woodcreeper differ from the nominate thus:

  • X. g. polystictus, much darker crown than back; back has wide buff streaks with wide black edges
  • X. g. connectens, similar to polystictus with deeper buff underparts and heavier, deeper buff, streaking on crown, nape, and underparts
  • X. g. guttatoides, pale horn bill, overall more rufescent, crown darker than back, throat richer buff, richer buff with weaker dark edges streaking above and below
  • X. g. dorbignyanus, paler bill than guttatoides, paler and more olive overall than nominate, crown and back nearly the same color, narrow streaks with little or no dark edges above and below
  • X. g. eytoni, slimmer mostly blackish bill, more olive upperparts, richer rufous rump, grayer underparts, whiter throat, whiter streaking with sharp black margins above and below
  • X. g. vicinalis, blackish bill, whitish throat, strongly rufescent underparts, buffier and heavier streaks than eytoni
  • X. g. gracilirostris, similar to eytoni with longer, slimmer, and more decurved bill

Distribution and habitat

The subspecies of the buff-throated woodcreeper are found thus:

Behavior

Movement

All subspecies of the buff-throated woodcreeper are believed to be year-round residents of their respective ranges.