White-browed Spinetail (Hellmayrea gularis)

Identification & Behavior: ~13 cm (5.1 in). The White-browed Spinetail is mostly rufous. It has a white supercilium, white loral area and white chin, which is bordered below by a black line. The tail is rufous-brown with wispy tips to the feathers. The immature has the vestigial markings of the adult’s face pattern and underparts scaled with dusky. It forages in dense understory mostly in stands of Chusquea bamboo. It is similar to the Rufous Spinetail but is distinguished by having a shorter tail and by the white facial markings.

Status: The White-browed Spinetail is uncommon in montane forests of the east slope of the Andes at elevations ranging between 2900-3700 m. It also occurs in Co and Ec.

Name in Spanish: Cola-Espina de Ceja Blanca.

Sub-species: White-browed Spinetail (Hellmayrea gularis gularis), (Lafresnaye), 1843.  Andes of W Venezuela (S Táchira), Colombia (all three ranges), Ecuador and N Peru (Cajamarca).
(Hellmayrea gularis rufiventris), (Berlepsch and Stolzmann), 1896.  Andes of N & C Peru (Amazonas S to Ayacucho).

Meaning of Name: Hellmayrea: In honor of Carl Eduard Hellmayr (1878-1944) Austrian/US ornithologist. gularis: L. gula= throat, gularis= of the throat, throated.

See more of the Family Furnariidae