Bird Guide

Grey-bellied Spinetail vs Silvery-throated Spinetail

Grey-bellied Spinetail (Synallaxis cinerascens)

Grey-bellied Spinetail

Synallaxis cinerascens

Tiny13 gForest

The grey-bellied spinetail is 13.5 to 15 cm (5.3 to 5.9 in) long and weighs 10 to 14 g (0.35 to 0.49 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have blackish lores and a faint gray line behind the eye on an otherwise gray-brown face. Their forehead is dark grayish brown, their crown dark brownish olive, and their back, rump, and uppertail coverts are richer brown. Their wings are mostly rich reddish chestnut. Their tail is dark chestnut; the tips of the feathers have no barbs giving a spiny appearance. Voice: The grey-bellied spinetail's song is a "very high, piercing 'weeet-sweet' " whose first note is higher than the second.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Arthur Bruck · CC BY 4.0
Silvery-throated Spinetail (Synallaxis subpudica)

Silvery-throated Spinetail

Synallaxis subpudica

Small16 gForest

The silvery-throated spinetail is 17 to 19 cm (6.7 to 7.5 in) long. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a thin light cinnamon supercilium on an otherwise grayish brown face. Their forecrown is grayish brown, their hindcrown and nape rufous-chestnut, and their back, rump, and uppertail coverts brown. Their wing coverts and base of their flight feathers are chestnut and the rest of the flight feathers are brown. Their tail is a slightly darker brown than the back; it is very long and the feathers lack barbs at their tips, giving a spiny appearance. Voice: The silvery-throated spinetail's song is "a fast, accelerating, descending and fading series of chattering notes...'chí-chi-chi-che-che-che-chu-chu-chu' " and is often sung in duet. Its call is "a sharp 'kik' " and its alarm call "a low trill".

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: (c) Christoph Moning, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Christoph Moning · cc-by

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Grey-bellied Spinetail and Silvery-throated Spinetail.