Cranioleuca obsoleta
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5%
The olive spinetail (Cranioleuca obsoleta) is a species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. The olive spinetail is monotypic. It is closely related to the sister species stripe-crowned spinetail (C. pyrrhophia) and pallid spinetail (C. pallida). The olive and stripe-crowned spinetails hybridize in southern Brazil.
The olive spinetail is 12.5 to 15 cm (4.9 to 5.9 in) long and weighs 12 to 16 g (0.42 to 0.56 oz). It is a smallish, short-billed, member of genus Cranioleuca. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a whitish supercilium, a dull brown band behind the eye, buff and brown streaky ear coverts, and a plain buff malar area. Their forehead is streaked brown and buff, their crown is dull brownish olive, and their back and rump are a slightly richer brown. Their tail is chestnut-rufous; the feathers are graduated and lack barbs at the end giving a spiky appearance. Their wing coverts are dark chestnut-rufous, their primary coverts dark brown, and their flight feathers warm brown. Their throat is whitish, their breast buffy brownish, their belly... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iberá National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 2 | Iguaçu National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Iguazú National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Curitiba | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | Porto Alegre | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Olive Spinetail sighting in Iguaçu National Park on a given day, based on 10 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 312th most-seen of the 346 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Olive Spinetail in Iguaçu National Park on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Olive Spinetail sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Olive Spinetail sightings, Iguaçu National Park ranks 2nd at under 5%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Iberá National Park (Argentina, under 5%).
Same family: Furnariidae
The closest relatives of the Olive Spinetail that you can see in Iguaçu National Park (family Furnariidae, Ovenbirds and Woodcreepers) are Rufous Hornero (about 40%), White-eyed Foliage-gleaner (about 30%) and Olivaceous Woodcreeper (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Olive Spinetail is recorded against all the birds logged in Iguaçu National Park (10 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
