The plain-brown woodcreeper (Dendrocincla fuliginosa), is a sub-oscine passerine bird in subfamily Dendrocolaptinae of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in the tropical New World from Honduras through South America to central Brazil and in Trinidad and Tobago.

Taxonomy and systematics

The plain-brown woodcreeper's taxonomy is unsettled. The International Ornithological Committee (IOC) and the Clements taxonomy assign it these 11 subspecies:

  • D. f. ridgwayi <small>Oberholser, 1904</small>
  • D. f. lafresnayei <small>Ridgway, 1888</small>
  • D. f. meruloides <small>(Lafresnaye, 1851)</small>
  • D. f. deltana <small>Phelps, WH & Phelps, WH Jr, 1950</small>
  • D. f. barinensis <small>Phelps, WH & Phelps, WH Jr, 1949</small>
  • D. f. phaeochroa <small>Berlepsch & Hartert, EJO, 1902</small>
  • D. f. neglecta <small>Todd, 1948</small>
  • D. f. atrirostris <small>(d'Orbigny & Lafresnaye, 1838)</small>
  • D. f. fuliginosa <small>(Vieillot, 1818)</small>
  • D. f. rufoolivacea <small>Ridgway, 1888</small>
  • D. f. trumaii <small>Sick, 1950</small>

BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) includes subspecies taunayi in the plain-brown woodcreeper. The IOC and Clements assign it to the plain-winged woodcreeper (D. turdina), which itself was once considered to be part of the plain-brown woodcreeper.

In the past some authors have treated atrirostris as a separate species. Subspecies meruloides has in the past been treated as a separate species and also as a subspecies of the white-chinned woodcreeper (D. merula).

The other subspecies of the plain-brown woodcreeper differ from the nominate thus:

Behavior

Movement

The plain-brown woodcreeper is a year-round resident throughout its range, though some local movements are suspected.

Breeding

The plain-brown woodcreeper's nesting season varies geographically, from May to October in Central America and apparently August to December in Amazonia. It builds a cup nest of dead leaves, plant fibers, and plant down at the bottom of a cavity in a stump, bamboo, or palm; it may first build up a deep cavity with moss. Pairs appear to bond only briefly and only females are known to incubate eggs and tend nestlings. The clutch size is one to three eggs. The incubation period is not known; fledging occurs 23 to 25 days after hatch.