Tepui Spinetail

Overview

The tepui spinetail (Cranioleuca demissa) is a small bird in the ovenbird family Furnariidae, native to the tepuis of Venezuela, Guyana, and Brazil. It is classified as Least Concern by the IUCN and is considered fairly common within its limited range.

Identification

• Length of 14 to 15 cm with rich brown to reddish chestnut plumage and a graduated tail that may appear spiny.
• A whitish supercilium on a dull brownish face, paired with a reddish chestnut crown and wings.
• Olive-yellow to olive-brown legs and feet with a dusky brown to black upper bill and pinkish lower bill.
• Song described as a thin, descending, accelerating series: 'téé-téé-te-ti ti'ti'ti'ti'i'i'i'

Habitat

Found on the tepuis where southeastern Venezuela, west central Guyana, and northern Brazilian Roraima meet, as well as in southern Venezuela. It inhabits montane evergreen forest and woodlands between elevations of 1,100 and 2,450 m, and locally in gallery forest in the Gran Sabana.

Diet

Feeds mostly on arthropods, foraging from the middle levels to the canopy of the forest. It hunts singly, in pairs, or as part of mixed-species flocks, acrobatically gleaning prey from bark and debris while hitching along small branches.

Did you know?

The nest is constructed as a globe of moss suspended from a branch, yet almost no other details regarding its breeding biology are currently known.