The montane woodcreeper (Lepidocolaptes lacrymiger) is a perching bird species in the subfamily Dendrocolaptinae of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.
Taxonomy and systematics
The montane woodcreeper was formerly considered conspecific with the spot-crowned woodcreeper (L. affinis) but they were split in the early 2000s.
The montane woodcreeper has these nine subspecies:
The montane woodcreeper is 19 to 19.5 cm (7.5 to 7.7 in) long; males weigh 31 to 35 g (1.1 to 1.2 oz) and females 29.5 to 33 g (1.0 to 1.2 oz). It is a smallish to medium-sized woodcreeper with a slim, slightly decurved bill. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies L. l. lacrymiger have a markedly streaked face and neck with a whitish supercilium that is often broken. Their crown and nape are dusky brown with conspicuous whitish buff spots with black tips; the spots become streaks on the nape. Their back and wing coverts are rufous-brown and their rump, wings, and tail rufous-chestnut. Their underparts are olive-brown with long, wide, black-edged and tipped buffy streaks . Their iris is dark brown and their legs and feet olive-gray to dark horn. Their maxilla is blackish to dusky gray or dark horn and the mandible pale gray to whitish. Juveniles have less distinct borders on the underside...
