The Behavior of Black-Banded Woodcreepers (Dendrocolaptes picumnus)

In forests and nearby second growth at Manaus, Brazil, Black- banded Woodcreepers (Dendrocolaptes picumnus) regularly foraged with army ants as well as away from ants. Like ant-following Dendrocolaptes certhia and Hylexetastes perrotii in the same study area, they tended to wait or hitch slowly on vertical thick trunks, then sally to or peck at prey. They were intermediate in dominance status and in use of perches near the ground, where ants flushed most prey. Birds of all three species also foraged high above the ground when the ants sent probes up trees. Sleek-headed (presumed female) Black-banded Woodcree- pers supplanted their ruff-headed mates and helped in their disputes with neigh- boring pairs; one or both birds of a pair sang near roost sites in morning and evening; and pairs trespassed to a limited extent on their neighbors' areas. Large young were out of the nest with parents as early as July and as late as January, then wandered away from them. Breeding birds molted at about the time young left. At other study sites, the related species D. hoffmannsi and D. platyrostris behaved like D. picumnus. Woodcreepers of the genus Dendrocolaptes are among species of birds that regularly follow army ants for flushed prey in neotropical for- ests (Willis and Oniki 1978). The behaviorally little-known Black-banded Woodcreeper (D. picumnus) proved to be an important species in the ant-following guild that I studied for over a year near Manaus, Brazil. Here I report on studies of Black-banded Woodcreepers, and compare their behavior with that of related woodcreepers.