Parker's Spinetail

About the Parker's Spinetail

Parker's spinetail (Cranioleuca vulpecula) is a species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, and Peru. Parker's spinetail was originally described as a species with the binomial Synallaxis vulpecula. Later it was treated as a subspecies of the rusty-backed spinetail (Cranioleuca vulpina) but starting in the late twentieth century it was separated again as a species in its own right. subsequent phylogenetic work showed that it is not closely related to the rusty-backed spinetail but rather is a sister species of the russet-mantled softtail (C. berlepschi).

Parker's spinetail is monotypic. Parker's spinetail is 13 to 16 cm (5.1 to 6.3 in) long and weighs 16 to 20 g (0.56 to 0.71 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a faint buff supercilium and lores on an otherwise dusky gray face. Their crown, back, rump, and uppertail coverts are rufous; the forecrown has narrow buff streaks. Their tail and wings are also rufous. Their throat is white, and the rest of their underparts are light brown or light brownish gray with indistinct whitish mottling. Their... Wikipedia →