Bahia Spinetail
Synallaxis cinerea
Range-restricted species with a long, ragged-ended spiky tail. Bright cinnamon crown, wings, and tail contrast with ash-gray face and underparts. Note the narrow cinnamon-buff eyebrow. Occurs in montane forest, where it forages in the understory. Sings a double-noted “di-réét, di-réét,” repeated continually.
Identification
The Bahia spinetail is 15 to 17 cm (5.9 to 6.7 in) long and weighs 16 to 21 g (0.56 to 0.74 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a wide cinnamon-buff supercilium and brownish gray lores and ear coverts. Their crown and nape are bright orange-rufous and their back, rump, and uppertail coverts are rufescent brown. Their wings are mostly chestnut-brown. Their tail is chestnut; it is graduated and the feathers have pointed tips. Their chin has a tiny tawny spot; the rest of their chin and throat are whitish with faint gray streaks. The rest of their underparts are dark grayish. Their iris is reddish brown to dark brown, their bill dark gray (sometimes with a paler base), and their legs and feet olivaceous to dark gray.
Taxonomy
The Bahia spinetail was long treated as a conspecific population of the rufous-capped spinetail (S. ruficapilla) and data both support and refute that treatment. As of late 2023 major taxonomic systems treat the Bahia spinetail as a full species with no subspecies. Its specific epithet has bounced between whitneyi and the current cinerea.
- Scientific name
- Synallaxis cinerea
- Authority
- Wied-Neuwied, M, 1831
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Furnariidae
- Genus
- Synallaxis
Range and habitat
The Bahia spinetail is found in eastern Brazil, in a very small area spanning southern Bahia and northeastern Minas Gerais. It inhabits the undergrowth of montane evergreen forest, where it favors edges dense with vines, ferns, and bamboo. In elevation it ranges between 500 and 1,000 m (1,600 and 3,300 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The Bahia spinetail is a year-round resident throughout its range.<p>The Bahia spinetail feeds on arthropods. It usually forages in pairs, gleaning and probing dead leaves and small branches. It typically feeds 1 to 2 m (3 to 7 ft) above the ground but will feed on the ground and as high as 5 m (16 ft).<p>Nothing is known about the Bahia spinetail's breeding biology.<p>The Bahia spinetail's song is "a double-noted 'di-réét, di-réét' ", sung by both members of a pair. Its call is a "high, dry 'rutrut-' ".
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Chestnut-capped Blackbird
Chrysomus ruficapillus
Medium-sized blackbird found in marshes, wet grasslands, and occasionally agricultural areas. Males are mostly black with a chestnut forehead, crown and throat. Females are dark brown above with faint streaks and olive-brown below with a buff throat. Highly gregarious, may gather in huge groups of up to 1000 individuals.
Amur Falcon
Falco amurensis
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Moluccan King-Parrot
Alisterus amboinensis
A brightly colored, slender, long-tailed parrot of forest and clearings from the lowlands to mid-mountains in the northwest. Red head and underparts, long bluish tail, blue back, and green or bluish wings depending on the race. Similar to Papuan King-Parrot with little overlap, but Moluccan lacks the pale green shoulder bar of the male and green head of the female. Somewhat similar to Chattering Lory but Moluccan King-Parrot has a blue rather than red back and a longer tail. Gives clear, high-pitched, upslurred piping and harsh scolding calls.
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