Cranioleuca vulpina
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
The rusty-backed spinetail (Cranioleuca vulpina) is a Neotropical species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Paraguay, Peru, Venezuela, and possibly Guyana.
The rusty-backed spinetail was formally described in 1856 by the Austrian ornithologist August von Pelzeln under the binomial name Synallaxis vulpina. Its specific epithet is from Latin vulpinus meaning "fox-like" (ie reddish-brown above and white beneath). The rusty-backed spinetail is now placed in the genus Cranioleuca that was introduced in 1853 by Ludwig Reichenbach.
Four subspecies are recognized: What are now the Coiba spinetail (C. dissita) and Parker's spinetail (C. vulpecula) were previously treated as subspecies of the rusty-backed spinetail. Other subspecies have been proposed but have not been accepted as valid.
The rusty-backed spinetail is 15 to 16 cm (5.9 to 6.3 in) long and weighs 14 to 17 g (0.49 to 0.60 oz). The sexes have the... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Coiba National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 2 | Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Anavilhanas National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Goiânia | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Rusty-backed Spinetail sighting in Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas on a given day, based on 410 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 94th most-seen of the 308 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Rusty-backed Spinetail in Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas on a given day, against about 10% in December, the lowest month. That is one of Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas's driest months, with about 35 mm of rain against 190 mm in January. January to April have too few records to rate.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Rusty-backed 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.
2nd of 3
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Rusty-backed Spinetail sightings, Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas ranks 2nd at about 20%. The best odds are in Coiba National Park (Panama, about 40%).
Same family: Furnariidae
The closest relatives of the Rusty-backed Spinetail that you can see in Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas (family Furnariidae, Ovenbirds and Woodcreepers) are Pale-legged Hornero (about 50%), Yellow-chinned Spinetail (about 50%) and Rufous Hornero (about 40%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Rusty-backed Spinetail is recorded against all the birds logged in Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas (410 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.
