Spix's spinetail (''Synallaxis spixi''), also known as the Chicli spinetail, is a bird in the ovenbird family. It is found in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

. The common name commemorates the German naturalist

Johann Baptist von Spix Johann Baptist Ritter von Spix (9 February 1781 – 13 March 1826) was a German natural history, biologist. From his expedition to Brazil, he brought to Germany a large variety of specimens of plants, insects, mammals, birds, amphibians and fish. ...

(1782-1826).

Description

It has a dark throat patch and a contrasting rufous crown and wings. The tail structure is also typical of the genus, being long and steeply graduated, with sharply pointed individual feathers, the central pair thinning towards the tip.

Breeding

The nest is cylindrical in shape, with a long lateral entrance tube. It is made from thorny sticks, has a dense roof to provide protection from rain, and is lined with

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

, moss and hair.

References

Spix's spinetail Birds of Argentina Birds of the Atlantic Forest Birds of Brazil Birds of Uruguay Spix's spinetail Spix's spinetail Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Furnariidae-stub