Bird Guide

Crested Spinetail vs Stripe-crowned Spinetail

Crested Spinetail (Cranioleuca subcristata)

Crested Spinetail

Cranioleuca subcristata

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The crested spinetail is 14 to 15 cm (5.5 to 5.9 in) long and weighs about 14 g (0.49 oz). It is a long-billed member of genus Cranioleuca but despite its name has only a very slight crest. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a faint whitish brown supercilium on an otherwise dull brownish face. Their crown is indistinctly striped with light and dark brown, and their back, rump, and uppertail coverts are brown. Their tail and wings are dark rufous with dark fuscous tips on the flight feathers. Voice: The crested spinetail's song is "3 high, shrill notes followed by chattery descending trill, 'pzeep, pzeep, pzeep, pee-pee-pe-e-e-e' " and its calls "a sharp 'tsink' low rattle".

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Crested Spinetail
Recorded by Rosa Elena Albornoz @rosaelena_naturaleza · Song · Caricuao (near Parroquia Macarao), Libertador, Capital District, Venezuela · CC0
Photo: Aitor · CC BY 4.0
Stripe-crowned Spinetail (Cranioleuca pyrrhophia)

Stripe-crowned Spinetail

Cranioleuca pyrrhophia

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The stripe-crowned spinetail is 13 to 16 cm (5.1 to 6.3 in) long and weighs 10 to 16 g (0.35 to 0.56 oz). It is a smallish member of genus Cranioleuca and has unique crown and tail patterns. The species shows considerable plumage variation following Gloger's rule. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a wide white supercilium, dark brown lores, dark brown behind the eye, and mixed whitish and brown ear coverts. Their crown is dramatically striped with blackish and buffy brown; the stripes are fainter in southern Brazil and Paraguay. Voice: One song of the stripe-crowned spinetail is "an accelerating, descending trill without introductory notes" also described as "an accelerating tee teetee titititit... ending in a trill. Another is a "few widely spaced metallic 'tick' notes followed by rapid series of high, descending, bubbly, clicking 'chack' notes". Its calls include a "soft, metallic 'tck' or rapid 'tidrrit' " and "wrrru".

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Ron Knight from Seaford, East Sussex, United Kingdom · CC BY 2.0

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Crested Spinetail and Stripe-crowned Spinetail.