Ochre-cheeked Spinetail vs Rusty-headed Spinetail

Ochre-cheeked Spinetail

Synallaxis scutata

Small15 gShrubland

The ochre-cheeked spinetail is 13 to 14 cm (5.1 to 5.5 in) long and weighs 12 to 19 g (0.42 to 0.67 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a wide white supercilium, blackish lores, a fuzzy dark brownish line behind the eye, and ochraceous ear coverts and malar region. Their forehead has a blackish spot. Their crown and upper back are grayish brown and the rest of their back is dark rufous that narrows to the rump, replace by grayish brown. Their uppertail coverts are rufous. Voice: The ochre-cheeked spinetail's song is an "extr. high, thin 'fweeet puh-wit', 1st part upslurred, 2nd note lower pitched than 1st and 3rd". It is "constantly repeated at 1-sec. intervals".

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: River Ahlquist · CC BY 4.0

Rusty-headed Spinetail

Synallaxis fuscorufa

Small16 gForest

The rusty-headed spinetail is 16 to 18 cm (6.3 to 7.1 in) long and weighs 15 to 17 g (0.53 to 0.60 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults are mostly bright reddish rufous. They do have dark lores, a dull grayish olive back, olive flanks, and a somewhat duller rufous tail. Their iris is reddish brown, their maxilla black, their mandible blue-gray, and their legs and feet gray to blue-gray. Juveniles have a much duller crown than adults, and tawny-olive edges on their underparts' feathers and faint barring on their belly. Their irises are light brown and their mandible yellowish pink. Voice: The rusty-headed spinetail's song is "3 fast notes, di-di-du". It is often repeated at short intervals for minutes at a time.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

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

Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Ochre-cheeked Spinetail and Rusty-headed Spinetail.