Red-billed scythebill

Campylorhamphus trochilirostris

Common name:

red-billed scythebill (en); arapaçu-beija-flor (pt); grimpar à bec rouge (fr); picoguadaña piquirrojo (es); rotrücken-sensenschnabel (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Passeriformes

Family Furnariidae

Range:

These South American birds are found from Panama and Venezuela, through Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, and into western Brazil, Paraguay and northern Argentina.

Size:

This large woodcreeper is 24-28 cm long and weighs 34-40 g.

Habitat:

These birds are found in a wide range of dense forest habitats, including rainforests, tropical and sub-tropical dry forests, lowland forests and mountain forests. They can be found up to an altitude of 2.000 m.

Diet:

Red-billed scythebills use their long recurved bill to pick insects and other invertebrates from the trunks and branches of trees.

Breeding:

These birds use abandoned woodpecker nests or other tree holes to nest in. The female lays 2-3 eggs which are incubated by both parents for 15-21 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge 19-23 days after hatching.

Conservation:

IUCN status - LC (Least concern)

The red-billed scythebill has a very large breeding range. Although the population size has not been quantified this species is described as fairly common, but patchily distributed. This population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats.