Rufous-capped Spinetail (Synallaxis ruficapilla) - 09Aug2022

This striking spinetail is a denizen of the Atlantic Forest in Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay.   We had one day to look for goodies in this area before flying to the interior for a trip to the Pantanal in Brazil.  This was within an hour of Sao Paulo. 

Slaty Spinetail (Synallaxis brachyura) - 10Aug2024

This distinctive spinetail is found from Honduras down to Peru.  I saw mine at Ukuku Lodge near Ibague, Colombia. 

White-lored Spinetail (Synallaxis albilora) - 17-18Aug2022

I don't love the name of this Spinetail as the lores didn't look conspicuously white to me on some of the ones we saw, but in my first pic I suppose you can see this field mark.  Certainly the head was paler than most of the spinetails we saw.  When you have a genus with 37 species that all look similar, apparently you have to get creative. This species is restricted to the Pantanal area of South America, mostly in Brazil which is where I saw these.

Chotoy Spinetail (Schoeniophylax phryganophilus) - 10&19Aug2022

We had these cuties on two separate occasions on my trip to the Pantanal in Brazil.  It is the only member of its genus!  There are 3 disjunct populations in central South America. 

Rufous Cacholote (Pseudoseisura unirufa) - 10&12Aug2022

The Rufous Cacholote is also known as the Grey-crested Cacholote which is probably a better name because three out of four of the Cacholotes are rufous in color.  They range in two disjunct populations in Bolivia and Brazil with some spillover into Paraguay.   I had all of mine in the Pantanal in Brazil.

streak-capped spinetail (Cranioleuca hellmayri) - 04Aug2019

This species should be considered a Colombian endemic but apparently one bird was collected in Venezuela.  It is normally found only in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta which is where I saw mine on a high elevation ridge.  

Red-faced Spinetail (Cranioleuca erythrops) - 13Aug2024

This mostly montane spinetail occurs from Costa Rica down through Ecuador.  I saw mine in Colombia at the Camino Montezuma. It has three sub-species.

Rusty-backed Spinetail (Cranioleuca vulpina) - 22Aug2022

This is one of 20 species in the Spinetail genus.  This one has a vast range across much of north and central South America.  I took this pic in the Pantanal in Brazil.

 

White-chinned Thistletail (Asthenes fuliginosa) - 08Aug2024

We only saw this species once on my last trip to Colombia, at Chingaza NP northeast of Bogota.  This is another of the high elevation species in the Andes that ranges from Venezuela through Peru. 

 

Many-striped Canastero (Asthenes flammulata) - 07Aug2024

There are 29 species in the genus Asthenes which includes all the Canasteros and some Thistletails.  This one inhabits high elevation Paramo habitats in the Andes of Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.  We saw ours in Sumapaz NP east of Bogota, Colombia.

Greater Thornbird (Phacellodomus ruber) 16&22Aug2022

 The Greater Thornbird is one of the largest of the ten Thornbirds in the genus Phacellodomus.  We had them in a couple different spots on our trip through the Pantanal in Brazil.  They range across a pretty wide area in central South America 

Rufous-fronted Thornbird (Phacellodomus rufifrons) - 11&22Aug2022

This amazing creature has a disjunct range across the middle of South America with populations in the west, the center and the east.  I had mine in the Pantanal in Brazil.  It is known for its large nests made of thorny twigs.  

 

Andean Tit-spinetail (Leptasthenura andicola) - 7&17Aug2024

There are nine species in the Tit-spinetail genus.  This one ranges from Venezuela to Bolivia in the high elevation Andes.  We had ours at Sumapaz NP in the Paramo habitat east of Bogota, Colombia and then again 10 days later in the Central Cordillera near Nevado del Ruiz.

Fulvous-dotted Treerunner (Margarornis stellatus) - 14Aug2024

This elusive, Near-threatened bird of high elevation forests in the Colombian and Ecuadorean Andes is also known as the Star-chested Treerunner.  We saw ours up the road from the famous Montezuma Rainforest lodge in the Choco Biosphere region of Colombia. 

Flammulated treehunter (Thripadectes flammulatus) 04Aug2019 & 18Aug2024

This interesting bird is found at high elevation in some disjunct populations from Venezuela down to the northern end of Peru. It has an amazing song that seems to get louder and louder so that it gives you the impression it is getting closer to you.  Although it is very hard to see, I was lucky enough to have obtained photos on both my trips to Colombia, one in the Santa Marta mountains in 2019 and one from the western cordillera in 2024.

Santa Marta Foliage-gleaner (Clibanornis rufipectus) - 02Aug2019

I only obtained one quick pic of this Colombian endemic and generally hard to see bird.  Oddly enough it is one of the only 5 species in the Genus which also has the Chestnut-capped Foliage-gleaner which I saw in Brazil, but in my opinion they look nothing like each other.  The Santa Marta Foliage-gleaner has a Vulnerable status per IUCN classification mostly due to its small range in the Santa Marta mountains which is also prone to habitat fragmentation due to farming. Thankfully about 40% of its range is protected.

Chestnut-capped Foliage-gleaner (Clibanornis rectirostris) - 11Aug2022

This species is also called the Henna-capped Foliage-gleaner.  It resides in south-central South America mostly in Brazil which is where I saw this one in the Pantanal.  As with most foliage-gleaners they are typically very hard to see so we were chuffed to have this one perch out in the open.  They are very loud so finding them is easy, but seeing them is another thing altogether.

Montane Foliage-gleaner (Anabacerthia striaticollis) - 10Aug2024

There are five species in this Genus of which I have seen two at the time of writing this.  The other is the Scaly-throated Foliage-gleaner which is considered a sister species.  As you can guess, the Montane version likes high elevation forests in the Andes of Venezuela down through Bolivia.  I had mine in Colombia.

Scaly-throated Foliage-gleaner (Anabacerthia variegaticeps) - 15Aug2024

Between the common name and the Latin name, this bird has one of the longest names I have seen!  It is only fitting then that it is one of the birds I have seen for the least time possible, just enough to snap this pic.  Like most foliage-gleaners they are very skulky and difficult to see.  There is some debate on whether the sister species of Montane Foliage-gleaner is conspecific or not but the eBird taxonomy has them as separate species.  We saw ours at Ukuku Lodge in Colombia.

Dark-bellied Cinclodes (Cinclodes patagonicus) - 28Feb2022

Here is another species of Cinclodes I was able to see in the short time I was in Patagonia before boarding a ship to Antarctica.  If you are not familiar with Cinclodes, you could easily confuse this with the Buff-winged Cinclodes which I also saw in the same area.  However, this species does have a darker belly and the throat and breast white markings are more defined among other field marks.

Stout-billed Cinclodes (Cinclodes excelsior) - 17Aug2024

This is one of the larger Cinclodes species which shares habitats with the Chestnut-winged Cinclodes in the high altitude grasslands of the Andes in Colombia and Ecuador.  If you see a Cinclodes in this area sitting on a fence post, it probably is this one.

Chestnut-winged Cinclodes (Cinclodes albidiventris) - 07Aug2024

The Chestnut-winged Cinclodes was one of the other species split out from the previously called Bar-winged Cinclodes. This one is a resident of the high altitude grasslands in the Andes of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Peru.  Below are two different individuals from two different open habitats in Colombia.

Buff-winged Cinclodes (Cinclodes fuscus) - 18&28Feb2022

This species was split out with two other species from what was previously known as the Bar-winged Cinclodes.  It lives in the very southern parts of South America including Patagonia where I saw these ones on a short stop before embarking on the ship to Antarctica. 

Rufous Hornero (Furnarius rufus) - 22Aug2022

The Rufous Hornero lives in the southeast portions of South America including the Pantanal in Brazil which is where I saw many of them.  They and their cousins are the reason the Family is called Ovenbirds.  They craft clay nests that resemble wood-fired ovens.  Horno is the Spanish word for oven. 

Pale-legged Hornero (Furnarius leucopus) - 17-18Aug2022

The Pale-legged Hornero is one of the 8 species in the Genus Fernarius which is the Horneros.  Hornero comes from the Spanish for oven or Horno. The Hornero nest is a clay structure that resembles a wood-fired oven.  These birds collectively are the reason why the family is called Ovenbirds, which is completely unrelated to what we call an Ovenbird in the US.  We only saw a handful of the Pale-legged Horneros on our trip to the Pantanal in Brazil.  They basically look a lot like the more common Rufous Hornero but with a nice white stripe above the eye and pink or pale colored legs versus the darker legs of the Rufous.

Streaked Xenops (Xenops rutilans) - 18Aug2024

The Streaked Xenops has a wide range from Costa Rica all the way down to southern Brazil.  It has eleven sub-species with some specializing in montane habitats in the Andes and others in dry gallery forests.  This one was in montane habitat in Colombia.

 

Northern Plain-Xenops (Xenops mexicanus) - 13Aug2024

This Xenops is found in Central America and northern South America.  There are currently 5 species in this Genus (Xenops). We had ours in central Colombia at the famous Montezuma Rainforest Lodge.