Streak-backed Tit-Spinetail

Overview

The streak-backed tit-spinetail (Leptasthenura striata) is a small, long-tailed furnariid bird native to the western Andes of South America. It is classified as Least Concern by the IUCN, though its population is believed to be decreasing despite a lack of immediate specific threats.

Identification

• Measures 14.5 to 16.5 cm in length with a small body and long, spiny-appearing tail.
• Blackish face with an indistinct dirty white supercilium and a black crown heavily striped with rufous.
• Back streaked with dusky brown and tawny buff, transitioning to an olive brown rump; wing coverts are blackish with wide cinnamon rufous edges.
• Song consists of a melancholy, descending series of high, ringing whistles described as 'tchee-LEEa'LEEa'...'.

Habitat

Found on the west slope of the Andes in Peru and Chile, primarily inhabiting arid montane scrublands with cacti and bromeliads, as well as Polylepis woodlands. Elevation ranges from 2,000 to 4,200 m in Peru (locally down to 900 m) and 3,000 to 4,000 m in Chile.

Diet

Feeds on arthropods, gleaned from foliage, flowers, and twigs in shrubs and trees, though the specific diet is not known in detail. It forages in pairs, small family groups, or mixed-species flocks and occasionally on the ground.

Did you know?

The bird's tail feathers have bare shafts on their tips, which gives them a distinctive spiny appearance.