Yellow-chinned Spinetail
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| Certhiaxis cinnamomea (Gmelin, 1788) |
The Yellow-chinned Spinetail Certhiaxis cinnamomea is a passerine bird found in the tropical New World from Trinidad and Colombia south to Argentina and Uruguay. This species is a common resident breeder in marshes and the edges of mangrove swamps.
It is a member of the South American bird family Furnariidae, a group in which many species build elaborate clay nests, giving rise to the English name for the family of "ovenbirds".
However, the Stripe-breasted Spinetail constructs a large spherical stick nest, usually low in a mangrove or other marsh vegetation. The tubular entrance tunnel rises almost vertically from the base to the top of the nest. The normal clutch is three, sometimes four, greenish white eggs.
This spinetail is parasitised by the Striped Cuckoo, which lays one or two eggs in the nest, but it is not known how the cuckoo enters the nest or ejects the host's young.
The Yellow-chinned Spinetail is typically 15 cm long, and weighs 15 g. It is a slender bird with a long tail. The upperparts and head are chestnut brown, and the underparts are whitish apart from the pale yellow throat. The sexes are similar, but there are several races, differing in forecrown colour or upperparts tone.
The Yellow-chinned Spinetail feeds on insects and spiders, keeping low and often in the open. It is a conspicuous, confiding and noisy bird, with a shrill rattling call.
[edit] References
- ffrench, Richard (1991). A Guide to the Birds of Trinidad and Tobago, 2nd edition, Comstock Publishing. ISBN 0-8014-9792-2.
- Hilty, Steven L (2003). Birds of Venezuela. London: Christopher Helm. ISBN 0-7136-6418-5.
