Ochre-cheeked Spinetail

Overview

The ochre-cheeked spinetail is a small bird in the ovenbird family Furnariidae, native to parts of South America. It is currently assessed as being of Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, though its population is believed to be decreasing.

Identification

• 13 to 14 cm in length with uniform plumage across sexes, featuring a wide white supercilium, blackish lores, and an ochraceous ear coverts and malar region.
• Upperparts include a grayish-brown crown and dark rufous back, with a spiny-appearing rufous tail where feather tips lack barbs.
• Underparts consist of a white throat with a black lower crescent, transitioning to pinkish-brown or ochraceous buff on the breast and belly.
• Song is described as an extremely high, thin 'fweeet puh-wit' repeated at one-second intervals.

Habitat

Found in eastern and central Brazil, as well as parts of Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Peru, the species generally inhabits the undergrowth and edges of semi-deciduous and deciduous forests. It ranges in elevation from near sea level up to 1,700 m, occurring in ecoregions such as the caatinga and cerrado in Brazil.

Diet

This species feeds primarily on arthropods, typically foraging in pairs or occasionally joining mixed-species feeding flocks. It glean most of its prey from the ground.

Did you know?

The tail feathers have tips that lack barbs, giving them a distinctive spiny appearance, which likely gives rise to the bird's 'spinetail' common name.