Azara's spinetail is a species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.
Region
Andes Mountains
Typical Environment
Occurs along the Andes from Venezuela and Colombia south through Ecuador and Peru to Bolivia and northwestern Argentina. It favors montane forest edges, brushy ravines, secondary growth, and dense thickets, often with patches of bamboo. Common around forest margins near agriculture and along roadsides with hedgerows. Typically keeps low to mid-understory, weaving through vine tangles and shrubs.
Altitude Range
900–3500 m
Climate Zone
Highland
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
Named after the naturalist Félix de Azara, this spinetail is a skulking Andean furnariid that often keeps to dense thickets with its long, spiny-tipped tail cocked and fanned. It builds a bulky, domed stick nest with a side entrance, typical of the genus Synallaxis. Pairs frequently duet, and its accelerating, chatty trill is a reliable way to detect it even when hidden.
Temperament
skulking and active
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats through dense cover
Social Behavior
Usually seen in pairs or small family groups, maintaining territories year-round. Both sexes build a domed stick nest with a side entrance and share incubation and chick-feeding duties. Often joins mixed-species flocks along forest edges but remains low and hidden.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Song is a fast, accelerating series of dry chips or trills that rattles at the end, often given in duets by a pair. Calls include sharp chek notes and scolding chatters from dense cover.
Plumage
Warm brown upperparts with rufous wings and a long, stiff, rufous tail; grayish face and crown with a pale throat and buffy underparts. Feathers are plain rather than patterned, emphasizing rich rufous tones and subtle gray contrasts.
Diet
Primarily small insects and other arthropods gleaned from leaves, twigs, and mossy tangles. Probes vine mats and bamboo clumps, and occasionally takes prey from the ground or low branches. May rarely consume small berries when insect prey is scarce.
Preferred Environment
Feeds in the understory of montane forest edges, secondary growth, hedgerows, and bamboo thickets. Frequently forages 0.5–3 m above ground in dense, tangled vegetation.
