Alternative name: Pale-headed Spinetail
- Cranioleuca semicinerea
Identification
14-16 cm (5½-6¼ in). A pale and grey Cranioleuca Spinetail.
- Faint whitish supercilium, rest of face pale grey
- Elongated crown feathers form a short crest in excitement
- Pale buffy grey forehead, becoming slightly darker on cronw and nape
- Rufous-brown upperparts and wing
- Rufous-brown graduated tail with typical spiny appearance
- Pale grey throat and belly, blending to darker breast, flanks and undertail-coverts
Sexes similar. Juveniles undescribed.
Distribution
South America: endemic to Brasil.
A rare to uncommon species, restricted to a narrow band of forest between tropical evergreen forest and dry caatinga woodland. This habitat is heavily used for coffee plantations and only a small fraction of the original habitat remains.
Taxonomy
Subspecies
There are 2 subspecies[1]:
- C. s. semicinerea:
- North-eastern Brazil (Ceará, Alagoas, southern Bahia and northern Minas Gerais)
- C. s. goyana:
- Eastern Brazil (south-central Goiás)
Some authorities don't accept these two subspecies and treat the species as monotypic[2].
Habitat
Found in tropcial deciduous and semi-deciduous forest and woodland.
Occurs at 500 to 850 m.
Behaviour
Diet
Feeds on arthropods.
Forages in pairs, usually in mixed-species flocks in subcanopy and canopy.
Gleans items from bark and debris acrobatically.
Breeding
The nest is a large oval mass made of moss and rootlets with a side entrance. It's wrapped around a horizontal branch, 5 to 12 m above the ground.
Movements
A resident species.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Del Hoyo, J, A Elliot, and D Christie, eds. 2003. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 8: Broadbills to Tapaculos. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8487334504
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Gray-headed Spinetail. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 8 December 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Gray-headed_Spinetail
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
