Thursday 30 October 2014

Creamy-crested spinetail

Cranioleuca albicapilla

Photo by Tomas Grim (Internet Bird Collection)

Common name:
creamy-crested spinetail (en); arredio-de-barrete-branco (pt); synallaxe à calotte blanche (fr); curutié crestado (es); fahlkappen-baumschlüpfer (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Furnariidae

Range:
This species is endemic to Peru, being found along the eastern slopes of the Andes from Tarma to Cusco.

Size:
These birds are 16-17 cm long and weigh 18-24 g.

Habitat:
The creamy-crested spinetail is mostly found in high altitude woodlands and scrublands, ranging from semi-arid to semi-humid areas, particularly areas dominated by Podocarpus or Eugenia-Escallonia. They also use pastures and arable land. This species occurs at altitudes of 2.400-3.800 m.

Diet:
They forage in pairs, or sometimes join mixed-species foraging flocks, taking various arthropods from the mid-storey of the vegetation.

Breeding:
Creamy-crested spinetails are believed to be monogamous and possibly breed in January-May. The nest is a small globular structure made of moss, twigs and bark strips, usually suspended from the end of a branch. There is no further information on the reproduction of this species.

Conservation:IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a relatively large breeding range and is described as locally fairly common. The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats.

No comments:

Post a Comment