Birds of the World

    PASSERIFORMES: Furnariidae (Ovenbirds)  
Genus: Synallaxis (37 species)

Genus Synallaxis, typical Spinetails, are small mostly brown birds with long straight tails. Spinetails are found in low dense growth and are more often heard than seen.


Pale-breasted Spinetail
Pale-breasted Spinetail (Synallaxis albescens)
Range: MA, SA: Costa Rica to c Argentina
Cocorná, Colombia  
   
Photograph by Tom Friedel   © All Rights Reserved.

Uee-pee call common in open grasslands and wetlands, at lower altitudes than similar Azara's Spinetail.

Dark-breasted Spinetail
Dark-breasted Spinetail (Synallaxis albigularis albigularis)
Range: SA: w Amazonia
Puerto Nariño, Amazonas, Colombia  
   
Photograph by Tom Friedel   © All Rights Reserved.


White-lored Spinetail
White-lored Spinetail (Synallaxis albilora)
Range: SA: e Bolivia, sw Brazil and n Paraguay
Mimoso, Santo Antonio do Laverger, Brazil  
   
Photograph by Rodrigo Conte   © All Rights Reserved.



Azara's Spinetail
Azara's Spinetail (Synallaxis azarae media)
Range: SA: w Venezuela to nw Argentina
La Romera, Itagui, Antioquia, Colombia  
   
Photograph by Tom Friedel   © All Rights Reserved.

Common and vocal at 2000-3000m in Andean cloud forests (a bit lower in Peru).
Alt. photo
Additional photo.

Rio Orinoco Spinetail
Rio Orinoco Spinetail (Synallaxis beverlyae) Near Threatened
Range: SA: Venezuela and e Colombia
Venezuela  
   
Photograph by Daniel Hinckley     Copyright and usage info

A recently discovered river island specialist.

Slaty Spinetail
Slaty Spinetail (Synallaxis brachyura nigrifumosa)
Range: MA, SA: nc Honduras to n Peru
Bahia Solano, Choco, Colombia  
   
Photograph by Tom Friedel   © All Rights Reserved.

Slaty Spinetail
Slaty Spinetail (Synallaxis brachyura nigrifumosa)
Range: MA, SA: nc Honduras to n Peru
Medio Queso, Los Chiles, Costa Rica  
   
Photograph by Jorge Obando Gutierrez   © Copyrighted, All Rights Reserved.

Vocal, but secretive.

Cabanis's Spinetail
Cabanis's Spinetail (Synallaxis cabanisi cabanisi)
Range: SA: c Peru to n Bolivia and c Brazil
Los Amigos Biological Station, Peru  
   
Photograph by Joe Tobias   © All Rights Reserved.


White-whiskered Spinetail
White-whiskered Spinetail (Synallaxis candei candei)
Range: SA: n Colombia and w Venezuela
Los Flamencos Wildlife Sanctuary, Camarones, La Guajira, Colombia  
   
Photograph by Tom Friedel   © All Rights Reserved.

Note desert scrub habitat. Despite its small range, this species has three visually distinctive subspecies. Birds closer to Venezuela have a white throat and black cheek, reversed from nominate (candei). And birds in Magdalena may have an all black face.

Black-throated Spinetail
Black-throated Spinetail (Synallaxis castanea)
Range: SA: n Venezuela
Colonia Tovar, Venezuela  
   
Photograph by Tom Friedel   © All Rights Reserved.


Chestnut-throated Spinetail
Chestnut-throated Spinetail (Synallaxis cherriei)
Range: SA: w, sc Amazonia
Carajás National Forest, Pará, Brazil  
   
Photograph by Hector Bottai     Copyright and usage info

Described by ProAves as enigmatic.

No Image
Chinchipe Spinetail (Synallaxis chinchipensis)
Range: SA: Marañón Valley (n Peru)
   


Split from the Necklaced Spinetail in 2020, and only found in the Maranon Valley.

Grey-bellied Spinetail
Grey-bellied Spinetail (Synallaxis cinerascens)
Range: SA: se Brazil to e Paraguay, ne Argentina and c Uruguay
São Francisco de Paula, Brazil  
   
Photograph by Bradley Hacker   © All Rights Reserved.

Endemic to the highlands of 'mata Atlantica', the Atlantic Rain Forest Athanas.

Bahia Spinetail
Bahia Spinetail (Synallaxis cinerea) Near Threatened
Range: SA: e Brazil
Boa Nova, Brazil  
   
Photograph by Ciro Albano - NE Brazil Birding   © All Rights Reserved.


Stripe-breasted Spinetail
Stripe-breasted Spinetail (Synallaxis cinnamomea aveledoi)
Range: SA: n Venezuela and Colombia
Ocaña, Norte de Santander, Colombia  
   
Photograph by Tom Friedel   © All Rights Reserved.

Sounds a bit like Azara's Spinetail, but is found at lower altitudes. Uniformly brown with white and black throat.

Apurimac Spinetail
Apurimac Spinetail (Synallaxis courseni) Vulnerable
Range: SA: c Peru
Abancay, Apurimac, Peru  
   
Photograph by Jon Irvine   © All Rights Reserved.

Closest to Azara's Spinetail and vocally similar.

Rufous-breasted Spinetail
Rufous-breasted Spinetail (Synallaxis erythrothorax)
Range: MA: c
Santa Ana, Guatemala  
   
Photograph by Bradley Hacker   © All Rights Reserved.


Sooty-fronted Spinetail
Sooty-fronted Spinetail (Synallaxis frontalis)
Range: SA: e, c, s Brazil, Bolivia, n, nw Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay
Fazenda Grotão, Brasilia, Brazil  
   
Photograph by Rodrigo Conte   © All Rights Reserved.


Rusty-headed Spinetail
Rusty-headed Spinetail (Synallaxis fuscorufa) Near Threatened
Range: SA: n Colombia
Santa Marta Sierra Nevada, Colombia  
   
Photograph by Tom Friedel   © All Rights Reserved.


Plain-crowned Spinetail
Plain-crowned Spinetail (Synallaxis gujanensis)
Range: SA: Amazonia
Puerto Nariño, Amazonas, Colombia  
   
Photograph by Tom Friedel   © All Rights Reserved.

Species is browner from east Colombia through Guyanas and east Brazil, and greyer further west.

Red-shouldered Spinetail
Red-shouldered Spinetail (Synallaxis hellmayri)
Range: SA: e Brazil
Canudosl, Bahia, Brazil  
   
Photograph by Hector Bottai     Copyright and usage info


Great Spinetail
Great Spinetail (Synallaxis hypochondriaca) Near Threatened
Range: SA: n Peru
San Marcos, Cajamarca, Peru
  Locally common in its small range.
   
Photograph by Tropical Birding (Nick Athanas)   © All Rights Reserved.


Cinereous-breasted Spinetail
Cinereous-breasted Spinetail (Synallaxis hypospodia)
Range: SA: s Amazonia and e Brazil
DF, Brazil  
   
Photograph by Rodrigo Conte   © All Rights Reserved.


Pinto's Spinetail
Pinto's Spinetail (Synallaxis infuscata) Endangered
Range: SA: e Brazil
RPPN Frei Caneca, Pernambuco, Brazil  
   
Photograph by Tropical Birding (Nick Athanas)   © All Rights Reserved.


Hoary-throated Spinetail
Hoary-throated Spinetail (Synallaxis kollari) Critically Endangered
Range: SA: n Brazil
Amajari, Roraim, Brazil  
   
Photograph by J. A. Jacomelli   © All Rights Reserved.


No Image
McConnell's Spinetail (Synallaxis macconnelli)
Range: SA: ne, nc Amazonia
   



Maranon Spinetail
Maranon Spinetail (Synallaxis maranonica) Critically Endangered
Range: SA: s Ecuador and n Peru
 
   
Photograph by Fernando Angulo Pratolongo   © All Rights Reserved.

Note grey head and body.

Dusky Spinetail
Dusky Spinetail (Synallaxis moesta)
Range: SA: c Colombia to ne Peru
Vereda Las Doradas, Caquetá, Colombia  
   
Photograph by Jorge Muñoz   © All Rights Reserved.


Rufous-capped Spinetail
Rufous-capped Spinetail (Synallaxis ruficapilla)
Range: SA: se Brazil to e Paraguay and ne Argentina
Reserva Guainumbi, São Paulo, Brazil  
   
Photograph by Matt Grube   © All Rights Reserved.


Ruddy Spinetail
Ruddy Spinetail (Synallaxis rutilans caquetensis)
Range: SA: Amazonia
Finca Porvenír, Meta, Colombia  
   
Photograph by Tom Friedel   © All Rights Reserved.

Moves in small sometimes noisy groups in dense foliage close to the rainforest floor.

Ochre-cheeked Spinetail
Ochre-cheeked Spinetail (Synallaxis scutata scutata)
Range: SA: c, sc SA, e Brazil
Fazenda Grotão, DF, Brazil  
   
Photograph by Rodrigo Conte   © All Rights Reserved.


No Image
Araguaia Spinetail (Synallaxis simoni)
Range: SA: wc Brazil
   


Described in 2023 and found along the Araguaia River.

Spix's Spinetail
Spix's Spinetail (Synallaxis spixi)
Range: SA: se Brazil to e Paraguay, ne Argentina and Uruguay
Campana, Buenos Aires, Argentina  
   
Photograph by Gustavo Masuzzo   © All Rights Reserved.


Necklaced Spinetail
Necklaced Spinetail (Synallaxis stictothorax maculata)
Range: SA: sw Ecuador and nw Peru
Lambayeque, Peru  
   
Photograph by Bradley Hacker   © All Rights Reserved.


Silvery-throated Spinetail
Silvery-throated Spinetail (Synallaxis subpudica)
Range: SA: Colombia
Cerro de Guadalupe, Bogotá, Colombia  
   
Photograph by Tropical Birding (Nick Athanas)   © All Rights Reserved.


Blackish-headed Spinetail
Blackish-headed Spinetail (Synallaxis tithys) Vulnerable
Range: SA: sw Ecuador and nw Peru
Macara, Loja, Ecuador  
   
Photograph by Stephen J. Davies   © All Rights Reserved.


Rufous Spinetail
Rufous Spinetail (Synallaxis unirufa unirufa)
Range: SA: nw Venezuela to c Peru
Tatama National Park, Pueblo Rico, Risaralda, Colombia  
   
Photograph by Tom Friedel   © All Rights Reserved.

Reference photo of not-too-different Perija race.
Immature with some patchy coloration.

Russet-bellied Spinetail
Russet-bellied Spinetail (Synallaxis zimmeri) Vulnerable
Range: SA: w Peru
Raquia, Peru  
   
Photograph by Bradley Hacker   © All Rights Reserved.



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