Ash-browed Spinetail

About the Ash-browed Spinetail

The ash-browed spinetail (Cranioleuca curtata) is a species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. The ash-browed spinetail has three subspecies, the nominate C. c. curtata (Sclater, PL, 1870), C. c. cisandina (Taczanowski, 1882), and C. c. debilis (Berlepsch & Stolzmann, 1906). Subspecies C. c. cisandina had originally been described as a separate species.

The ash-browed spinetail is 14 to 15 cm (5.5 to 5.9 in) long and weighs 14 to 21 g (0.49 to 0.74 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a supercilium that varies from bold whitish to obscure dingy gray. The rest of their face is dull brownish with some pale streaks on the ear coverts. Their forehead is brown with some reddish chestnut, their crown reddish chestnut, and their back rich brown that becomes increasingly reddish by the uppertail coverts. Their wings are reddish chestnut; their flight feathers are slightly paler with dark fuscous tips. Their tail is dark reddish chestnut; it is graduated and the feathers sometimes lack barbs on their tips. Their chin... Wikipedia →