Xenops tenuirostris
The Slender-billed Xenops (*Xenops tenuirostris*) is a captivating small ovenbird, typically measuring around 11 cm (4.3 in) in length and weighing a mere 8-12 grams. Its plumage is generally drab brownish above with rufous on the rump and tail, and its underparts are streaked whitish on a dull brownish base, often with a paler throat. The most distinctive field mark is its uniquely slender, sharply pointed, and slightly upturned bill, which is perfectly adapted for its specialized foraging s...
This species inhabits tropical lowland rainforests, particularly favoring várzea (floodplain) and gallery forests, often in close proximity to water bodies, typically below 500 meters elevation.
Its diet primarily consists of small arthropods, including various insects (such as beetles and ants), larvae, and spiders, which it extracts from bark and rotting wood.
The Slender-billed Xenops is a highly active and acrobatic diurnal forager, often seen creeping up and down tree trunks, branches, and woody vines. Its unique bill is employed to probe deeply into bark crevices, rotten wood, and epiphytes, and it can even chip away at wood to expose hidden arthro...
The Slender-billed Xenops boasts a wide geographic distribution across the Amazon Basin and the Guianan Shield in northern South America. Its range extends from eastern Colombia, southern Venezuela, and throughout the Guianas (Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana) southward through eastern Ecuador...
Least Concern
- The genus name "Xenops" translates from Greek to "strange face," a direct reference to its remarkably unique and specialized bill. - Unlike most passerines, this bird possesses the rare ability to actively chip away at wood with its bill to expose prey, a trait more commonly associated with woo...