Olive Spinetail

Overview

The olive spinetail (Cranioleuca obsoleta) is a small bird species within the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found across parts of South America, specifically in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. The species is currently assessed as Least Concern by the IUCN, although its population is believed to be decreasing due to habitat loss.

Identification

• A smallish bird measuring 12.5 to 15 cm in length, with a dull brownish olive crown and a slightly richer brown back and rump.
• Features a whitish supercilium, a dull brown band behind the eye, and buff and brown streaky ear coverts with a plain buff malar area.
• The tail is chestnut-rufous with graduated feathers that lack barbs at the ends, giving it a spiky appearance.
• Song consists of a short series of high and hesitant 'tzit-tzit-tzit' notes, followed by a short trill ending in a very high '-sfeet-sfeet-sfeet'.

Habitat

Found from southern São Paulo state in southeastern Brazil south through eastern Paraguay into northeastern Argentina, as far as northern Corrientes Province. The species inhabits humid primary and secondary forests as well as woodlands dominated by Araucaria trees, ranging in elevation from near sea level to 1,000 m.

Diet

Feeds primarily on arthropods, typically foraging in pairs or joining mixed-species feeding flocks. It gleans prey acrobatically from bark, moss, and epiphytes, hitching and climbing along trunks and small branches mostly in the forest's mid-storey but occasionally reaching the canopy.

Did you know?

The olive and stripe-crowned spinetails hybridise in southern Brazil. Its tail feathers lack barbs at the ends, creating a distinctive spiky appearance.