The blackish-headed spinetail is a Vulnerable species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Ecuador and Peru.
Region
Tumbesian region (southwest Ecuador and northwest Peru)
Typical Environment
Occurs on the Pacific slope in dry to semi-humid lowland and foothill habitats, especially deciduous woodland, arid thorn scrub, and second-growth thickets. It favors dense, tangled understory with vine tangles and brushy edges, including hedgerows and disturbed sites. It is most often found near clearings, along riparian scrub, and at forest margins where low cover is abundant. It persists in fragmented landscapes but depends on patches of dense shrubs. Local presence can be patchy where habitat has been cleared for agriculture.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 1500 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
This skulking furnariid is tied to the Tumbesian dry forest region of southwest Ecuador and northwest Peru and is assessed as Vulnerable due to ongoing habitat loss. It often travels in pairs, keeping to dense thorny scrub where it can be hard to see, though its fast, rattling song can give it away. Like other spinetails, it builds a bulky stick nest with a long entrance tunnel hidden in thickets.
Temperament
skulking and territorial
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats in low, darting flights between cover
Social Behavior
Typically found in pairs or small family groups and often remains within a well-defined territory year-round. Both sexes participate in building a bulky stick nest with a tubular entrance placed low in dense scrub. It occasionally joins mixed-species flocks along edges but generally keeps to thick understory. Breeding is presumed monogamous with both parents attending the nest.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
A fast, dry rattle or accelerating series of sharp chips that may rise and then fall in pace, carrying well from dense cover. Calls include harsh churrs and ticking notes used in contact between mates.
Plumage
Compact spinetail with a dusky to blackish head contrasting with gray-brown upperparts and warmer rufous wings and tail. Underparts are pale brown to buffy with a slightly paler throat. Tail is long and often held cocked, with coarse, spiny-looking rectrices typical of spinetails.
Diet
Primarily takes small arthropods such as beetles, ants, termites, caterpillars, and spiders. It gleans from leaves and twigs, probes bark crevices, and sifts through dead foliage in vine tangles. Prey is captured mostly at low levels, often within 1–3 meters of the ground. It rarely, if ever, consumes plant matter.
Preferred Environment
Feeds in dense thorn scrub, tangled second growth, and along brushy edges and riparian thickets. It uses cover to move methodically, often working from the interior of shrubs outward to edges. It may forage near human-modified habitats where suitable dense understory persists.
