Line-cheeked Spinetail vs Olive Spinetail

Line-cheeked Spinetail

Cranioleuca antisiensis

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The line-cheeked spinetail is a mid-sized spinetail, weighing 15–18 g and reaching 14.5 cm long. Like other spinetails in the genus Cranioleuca, it has a long graduated tail and a relatively long bill that curves downward slightly. It has a rufous crown; with a well-defined white supercilium; a pale throat; and some streaking on its ear coverts. It is brown to olive-grey above; with a greyish brown breast and belly; and rufous tail and wings. The line-cheeked spinetail is a diurnal species and vocalizes most actively at dawn and dusk to maintain their breeding territory boundaries.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Recorded by Niels Krabbe · Song · Loja: Bosque de Hanne, 2 km WSW Utuana, Ecuador · CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Opisska · CC0

Olive Spinetail

Cranioleuca obsoleta

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The olive spinetail is 12.5 to 15 cm (4.9 to 5.9 in) long and weighs 12 to 16 g (0.42 to 0.56 oz). It is a smallish, short-billed, member of genus Cranioleuca. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a whitish supercilium, a dull brown band behind the eye, buff and brown streaky ear coverts, and a plain buff malar area. Their forehead is streaked brown and buff, their crown is dull brownish olive, and their back and rump are a slightly richer brown. Their tail is chestnut-rufous; the feathers are graduated and lack barbs at the end giving a spiky appearance. Voice: The olive spinetail's song is a "short series, at first extr. high and hesitant 'tzit-tzit-tzit', and then a short trill ending in a very high '-sfeet-sfeet-sfeet' ". Its calls are "tst" and a "short, hard trill"; the second is also described as a "soft, dry, hurried trill".

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Marcelo Schmidt Roberti · CC BY 4.0

Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Line-cheeked Spinetail and Olive Spinetail.