Scaled spinetail
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Furnariidae
Genus: Cranioleuca
Species:
C. muelleri
Binomial name
Cranioleuca muelleri
(Hellmayr, 1911)

The scaled spinetail (Cranioleuca muelleri) is a species of bird in the family Furnariidae. It is endemic to the lower Amazon River in Brazil, where it inhabits várzea forests and tropical or subtropical swamplands.[2]

Description

The scaled spinetail is a dark bird with scaly-looking undersides, a pale supercilium, dark brown upperparts and rufuous crown, wings and tail. The tail is graduated, with basally stiffened rectrices, pointed at tips.[3] Breast and belly are very pale buff-brown; the feathers of throat, breast and belly are edged dark olive, creating a coarse, scaled appearance.[4][5]

It measures 14–15 cm (5.5–5.9 in) in length.[3]

Distribution and habitat

The scaled spinetail is endemic to the east Amazon River in Brazil, ranging from extreme eastern Amazonas, eastern to southern Amapá and Mexiana Island in Pará.[1]

It inhabits flooded tropical evergreen forest, restricted to the undergrowth and midstory of Brazilian várzea forests (seasonally flooded forests).[3] It ranges from 0–200 m elevation.[1]

Diet and foraging

Its diet consists mainly on arthropods. The species usually forages in pairs, sometimes with mixed-species flocks, searching for insects, which it typically gleans from the bark and riverine debris, from undergrowth to mid-storey. It hitches along small branches.[3] During the flood season, the spinetail remains in the middle of the canopy near the water line, looking for insects floating upstream on rafts of vegetation.[6]

Conservation status

The scaled spinetail has been classified as least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It is a poorly known and apparently uncommon species,[3] and the population is likely to be relatively small. Based on a model of future deforestation in the Amazon basin,[7] this species is expected to lose about half of its available habitat over three generations.[3]

The primary threat to this species is accelerating deforestation in the Amazon basin as land is cleared for cattle ranching and soy production, facilitated by expansion of the road network; it is thought likely to be particularly susceptible to fragmentation and edge effects.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 BirdLife International (2022). "Cranioleuca muelleri". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2022: e.T22702461A210888852. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  2. ↑ "Synallaxe écaillé - Cranioleuca muelleri - Scaled Spinetail". www.oiseaux.net.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Remsen, Jr., J. V.; Sharpe, C.J. (2020). "Scaled Spinetail (Cranioleuca muelleri)". In del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J.; Christie, D. A.; de Juana, L. (eds.). Birds of the World. Ithaca, NY: Cornell Lab of Ornithology. doi:10.2173/bow.scaspi1.01. S2CID 216317461.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ↑ Ridgely, Robert S.; Tudor, Guy (2009-06-01). Field Guide to the Songbirds of South America: The Passerines. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-71748-0.
  5. ↑ Ridgely, Robert S.; Tudor, Guy; Brown, William L.; Fund, World Wildlife (1989). The Birds of South America: Vol. II, The Suboscine Passerines. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-77063-8.
  6. ↑ "Gurupa Várzea". One Earth.
  7. ↑ Soares-Filho, B. S.; Nepstad, D. C.; Curran, L. M.; Cerqueira, G. C.; Garcia, R. A.; Ramos, C. A.; Voll, E.; McDonald, A.; Lefebvre, P.; Schlesinger, P. (March 2006). "Modelling conservation in the Amazon basin". Nature. 440 (7083): 520–523. Bibcode:2006Natur.440..520S. doi:10.1038/nature04389. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 16554817. S2CID 4320655. Retrieved 2020-11-30.
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