Rufous-breasted Spinetail

About the Rufous-breasted Spinetail

The rufous-breasted spinetail (Synallaxis erythrothorax) is a species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. The rufous-breasted spinetail's taxonomy is unsettled. The International Ornithological Committee and BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World assign it two subspecies, the nominate S. e. erythrothorax (Sclater, PL, 1855) and S. e. pacifica (Griscom, 1930). The Clements taxonomy adds a third, S. e. furtiva (Bangs & Peters, 1927), that the other two systems include within the nominate.

A study published in 2011 determined that the rufous-breasted spinetail and the white-whiskered spinetail (S. candei) are sister species. This article follows the two-subspecies model. The rufous-breasted spinetail is 13 to 16 cm (5.1 to 6.3 in) long and weighs 15 to 19 g (0.53 to 0.67 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a sepia brown face, crown, nape, back, rump and uppertail coverts. Their wings are chestnut with brown tips on their flight feathers. Their tail is chestnut brown; the feathers... Wikipedia →