Light-crowned Spinetail

Overview

The light-crowned spinetail (Cranioleuca albiceps) is a small ovenbird found in the Andes of Bolivia and Peru. It belongs to the subfamily Furnariinae and is assessed by the IUCN as being of Least Concern.

Identification

• Measures 14 to 15 cm in length with reddish chestnut wings and a tail that has a spiny appearance due to pointed feathers.
• Features a white to buffy crown, a dark grayish brown face with a dark supercilium, and an olivaceous brownish breast.
• Has dark red to reddish brown irises, a blackish upper bill, and a silvery horn to bluish gray lower bill.
• Singing produces a descending series of 6-10 evenly spaced notes, while its call is a long, excited trill.

Habitat

This species inhabits montane evergreen forest, favouring areas with Chusquea bamboo between elevations of 2,200 and 3,400 m. Its range covers the Andes of far southern Peru and central Bolivia, specifically within the Puno, La Paz, Cochabamba, and western Santa Cruz departments.

Diet

It feeds on arthropods, typically foraging in pairs or as part of mixed-species flocks in the mid-storey and edges of the forest. The bird gleans prey acrobatically from bark and live or dead leaves while hitching along branches and trunks.

Did you know?

The nest is constructed as an oval mass of moss with a side entrance and is wrapped around a Chusquea bamboo branch.