Cabanis's Spinetail

Cabanis's spinetail is 16 to 18 cm (6.3 to 7.1 in) long and weighs 16 to 24 g (0.56 to 0.85 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a faint ochraceous chestnut streak behind the eye and a grayish white malar region on an otherwise sooty gray-brown face. Their crown and nape are dark rufous-chestnut; their back, rump and uppertail coverts are dark brown. Their wings are mostly rufous-chestnut with fuscous brown tips on the flight feathers. Their tail is dull chestnut.It is graduated and the feathers have pointed tips. Voice: The vocalizations of Cabanis's spinetail have not been fully evaluated. Remsen describes a "ow nasal 'nyap' " made by the Peruvian and Bolivian populations, and states that it is probably a call and that the species' song has not been described. VanPerlo describes the song of the Brazilian population as a "hurried, chattered 'tjetjetjetjet--' " and its call a "low 'zic' ".