Ochre-cheeked Spinetail
Synallaxis scutata
Boldly marked species with a long spiky tail, reddish-brown upperparts, and grayish crown. Note the conspicuous white eyebrow and the white throat bordered below by a black patch. Inhabits dense undergrowth of deciduous and semi-deciduous forest. Occasionally accompanies mixed-species flocks. Sings a high, thin, shrill “tweet, to-wéét,” repeated for long periods.
Identification
The ochre-cheeked spinetail is 13 to 14 cm (5.1 to 5.5 in) long and weighs 12 to 19 g (0.42 to 0.67 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a wide white supercilium, blackish lores, a fuzzy dark brownish line behind the eye, and ochraceous ear coverts and malar region. Their forehead has a blackish spot. Their crown and upper back are grayish brown and the rest of their back is dark rufous that narrows to the rump, replace by grayish brown. Their uppertail coverts are rufous. Their wings are mostly dark rufous with dark brownish lesser coverts and primary tips. Their tail is rufous; the tips of the feathers have no barbs giving a spiny appearance. Their throat is white with a black crescent on its lower part. Their breast is pinkish brown to pale ochraceous buff that becomes more ochraceous by the undertail coverts; the belly is paler and has a white center. Their iris is dark chestnut to reddish brown or brown, their maxilla black to dark gray, their mandible gray to blue-gray (sometimes with a dark tip), and their legs and feet greenish gray to yellowish olive. Juveniles have faint dark scallops on the breast. Subspecies S. s. whitii has uniform brown upperparts with no rufous, with darker rufous wings and tail and deeper ochraceous face and underparts than the nominate.
Taxonomy
The ochre-cheeked spinetail and two other spinetails have been placed by some authors in genus Poecilurus but there are insufficient plumage, behavioral, and genetic differences to support that treatment. The ochre-cheeked spinetail is not even closely related to the other two but is a sister species to the grey-bellied spinetail (S. cinerascens).<p>Beyond the confirmation that the ochre-cheeked spinetail belongs in genus Synallaxis its taxonomy is unsetted. The International Ornithological Committee and BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World assign it two subspecies, the nominate S. s. scutata (Sclater, PL, 1859) and S. s. whitii (Sclater, PL, 1881). The Clements taxonomy adds a third, S. s. teretiala (Owen, 1985) that the other two systems include within the nominate. Remsen (2020) states that teretiala and a proposed subspecies neglecta are indistinguishable from the nominate.<p>This article follows the two-subspecies model.
- Scientific name
- Synallaxis scutata
- Authority
- Sclater, PL, 1859
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Furnariidae
- Genus
- Synallaxis
Range and habitat
The nominate subspecies of the ochre-cheeked spinetail is found in eastern and central Brazil. Subspecies S. s. whitii is found in southern Brazil's Mato Grosso state, southeastern Bolivia, extreme northwestern Paraguay, and northwestern Argentina in Jujuy and Salta provinces and perhaps as far south as Catamarca Province. The species is also found in southeastern Peru and northwestern Bolivia; these individuals might belong to whitii or represent an undescribed subspecies.<p>The ochre-cheeked spinetail generally inhabits the undergrowth and edges of semi-deciduous and deciduous forest; in Brazil the forest is found in caatinga and cerrado ecoregions. In elevation it ranges from near sea level to 1,700 m (5,600 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Sunda Coucal
Centropus nigrorufus
Uncommon and localized Javan endemic, restricted to coastal marshes, mangroves, estuaries, and adjacent scrubby and grassy growth. Black overall, with bright red eyes and patchy rufous-and-black wings. Also note huge, heavy bill with a hooked tip. Not as vocal as other coucals; infrequently gives a monotonous series of hoots which averages faster than that of Greater Coucal. Forages on the ground and in dense vegetation, only occasionally emerging into the open.
Magnificent Sunbird
Aethopyga magnifica
A stunning small bird of lowland and foothill scrub and gardens in the western Visayas. Male has a bright red head, back, and chest, a purple forehead, a broadening purple mustache stripe, a purple tail, black wings and belly, and a bright yellow patch on the lower back. Similar to Purple-throated, but larger; male lacks the purple throat, and female is mainly olive with distinctive reddish wings and tail. Call is a repeated high-pitched “chik!”
White-winged Crossbill
Loxia leucoptera
Stocky, large-headed finch with a unique crossed bill. Males are pinkish-red with black wings and two bold white wingbars. Females yellowish overall. Nomadic; breeds at any time of year, whenever there is enough food available. Prefers spruce cones. Red Crossbill also has a crossed bill, but is duller overall without white wingbars. Often in small flocks. Rarely visits feeders. Listen for distinctive “machine-gun rattle” calls and high-pitched tooting, like a toy truck.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.