Olive Spinetail

About the Olive Spinetail

The olive spinetail (Cranioleuca obsoleta) is a species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. The olive spinetail is monotypic. It is closely related to the sister species stripe-crowned spinetail (C. pyrrhophia) and pallid spinetail (C. pallida). The olive and stripe-crowned spinetails hybridize in southern Brazil.

The olive spinetail is 12.5 to 15 cm (4.9 to 5.9 in) long and weighs 12 to 16 g (0.42 to 0.56 oz). It is a smallish, short-billed, member of genus Cranioleuca. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a whitish supercilium, a dull brown band behind the eye, buff and brown streaky ear coverts, and a plain buff malar area. Their forehead is streaked brown and buff, their crown is dull brownish olive, and their back and rump are a slightly richer brown. Their tail is chestnut-rufous; the feathers are graduated and lack barbs at the end giving a spiky appearance. Their wing coverts are dark chestnut-rufous, their primary coverts dark brown, and their flight feathers warm brown. Their throat is whitish, their breast buffy brownish, their belly... Wikipedia →