Ruddy Spinetail

Overview

The ruddy spinetail (Synallaxis rutilans) is a species of bird in the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is classified as Least Concern by the IUCN and is a year-round resident throughout its range, generally considered uncommon to fairly common.

Identification

• Measures 13 to 15 cm in length and weighs between 15 and 22 g.
• Males of the nominate subspecies feature a deep ruddy chestnut face with mottled blackish lores, a black throat, and a bright ruddy chestnut breast.
• Tail is slaty blackish, graduated, and somewhat pointed; legs and feet are olive-gray to dark gray or black.
• Song is a constantly repeated 2-noted 'keéwoh' (with the second note lower), also described as 'tac, tac-owet' or 'chíck-dawah'.

Habitat

Found across Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. It primarily inhabits the undergrowth of terra firme forest and tropical lowland evergreen forest, typically below 900 m in elevation, though reaching up to 1,200 m in southern Venezuela.

Diet

Feeds on a wide variety of arthropods, gleaned from foliage, small branches, clusters of dead leaves, and leaf litter. It forages from the ground up to about 2 m above it, usually staying within dense undergrowth, often in pairs or as part of mixed-species feeding flocks.

Did you know?

The subspecies S. r. omissa differs so dramatically in plumage from the nominate form—being mostly sooty with rufous only on the wings and as a wash on the breast—that some taxonomists suspect it might actually be a separate species.