Red-shouldered Spinetail

About the Red-shouldered Spinetail

The red-shouldered spinetail (Synallaxis hellmayri) is a species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is endemic to Brazil. The red-shouldered spinetail was long treated as the sole member of genus Gyalophylax but molecular phylogenetic studies show that Gyalophylax is embedded within Synallaxis. The red-shouldered spinetail is monotypic.

The red-shouldered spinetail is 18 to 19 cm (7.1 to 7.5 in) long and weighs 25 to 26 g (0.88 to 0.92 oz). The sexes are thought to have the same plumage. Adults have uniform fuscous brown face, crown, back, rump, and uppertail coverts. Their wing coverts are dull chestnut and their flight feathers brownish gray. Their tail is blackish; it is long and the feathers have blunt tips. Their chin and throat are black. The rest of their underparts are brownish gray with a buffier center to the belly. Their iris is orange to rufescent, their bill black to blackish brown, and their legs and feet gray. Juveniles have grayish wing coverts.

The red-shouldered spinetail is found in eastern Brazil, in an area roughly bounded by Piauí, western Pernambuco... Wikipedia →