Ochre-cheeked Spinetail (Synallaxis scutata)

Identification & Behavior: ~15 cm (6 in). The Ochre-cheeked Spinetail has a rufous folded wing and tail. The crown is gray-brown bordered by a broad pale supercilium. The throat is whitish and bordered below by a solid black narrow stripe. The sides of the head and underparts are ochre. It forages in the understory of humid montane forests. It may superficially resemble a Cabanis’s Spinetail but does not have a rufous crown.

Status: The Ochre-cheeked Spinetail is fairly common in the thick understory of forest edges and second growth in extreme southeast Peru, in Puno at elevations ranging between 880-1400 m. It also occurs in Br and Bo.

Name in Spanish: Cola-Espina de Mejilla Ocrácea.

Sub-species: Ochre-cheeked Spinetail (Synallaxis scutata whitii), P. L. Sclater, 1881.

Meaning of Name: Synallaxis: Gr. sunallaxeos, sunallaxis = exchang. scutata: L. scutum= oblong, scutatus= armed with a shield.

See more of the Family Furnariidae