Certhiaxis cinnamomeus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The yellow-chinned spinetail (Certhiaxis cinnamomeus) is a passerine bird found in the tropical New World from Trinidad and Colombia south to Argentina and Uruguay. It is a member of the South American ovenbird family Furnariidae.
The yellow-chinned spinetail was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the treecreepers in the genus Certhia and coined the binomial name Certhia cinnamomea. The specific epithet is from Modern Latin cinnamomeus meaning "cinnamon-coloured". Gmelin based his description on the "Cinnamon creeper" that had been described in 1782 by the English ornithologist John Latham. Latham had examined a specimen in the British Museum. Latham did not specify the origin of the specimen but in 1902 Hans von Berlepsch and Ernst Hartert designated the type locality as Cayenne. The yellow-chinned spinetail is now placed with the red-and-white spinetail in the genus Certhiaxis that was introduced in 1844 by the French naturalist René Lesson.
Eight subspecies are recognised:
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | Iberá National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 3 | Caroni Swamp | 🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago | |
| 4 | El Impenetrable National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 5 | Chapada Diamantina National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 6 | Madidi National Park | 🇧🇴 Bolivia | |
| 7 | Iguazú National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 8 | Iguaçu National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 9 | Serra da Canastra National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 10 | Amacayacu National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 11 | Serra dos Órgãos National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 12 | Itatiaia National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 13 | Tijuca National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barranquilla | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 2 | Santa Cruz de la Sierra | 🇧🇴 Bolivia | |
| 3 | Fortaleza | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 4 | Buenos Aires | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 5 | Curitiba | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 6 | Maceió | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 7 | Belo Horizonte | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 8 | Asuncion | 🇵🇾 Paraguay | |
| 9 | São Paulo | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 10 | Vitória | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-chinned Spinetail sighting in Madidi National Park on a given day, based on 10 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 150th most-seen of the 239 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January, April and September–November
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow-chinned Spinetail in Madidi National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February and May–August, the lowest months. March and December have too few records to rate.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Yellow-chinned 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.
6th of 13
Of the 13 parks where we can rate Yellow-chinned Spinetail sightings, Madidi National Park ranks 6th at about 10%. The best odds are in Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas (Brazil, about 50%), Iberá National Park (Argentina, about 50%) and Caroni Swamp (Trinidad and Tobago, about 30%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Furnariidae
The closest relatives of the Yellow-chinned Spinetail that you can see in Madidi National Park (family Furnariidae, Ovenbirds and Woodcreepers) are Buff-throated Woodcreeper (about 30%), Rufous Hornero (about 20%) and Plain-crowned Spinetail (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Yellow-chinned Spinetail is recorded against all the birds logged in Madidi 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.
