Synallaxis brachyura
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
The slaty spinetail or slaty castlebuilder, (Synallaxis brachyura), is a passerine bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found from Honduras south to Peru. The slaty spinetail has four subspecies:
The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies S. b. brachyura have a grayish supercilium on an otherwise darker gray face. Their crown and nape are deep rufous-chestnut, their back is dark sooty brown to slate-brown, and their rump and uppertail coverts are slightly browner than the back. Their wing coverts and base of their flight feathers are deep rufous-chestnut and the rest of the flight feathers are dark brown. Their tail is the same brown as the rump and uppertail coverts; it is long and the feathers lack barbs at their tips, giving a spiny appearance. Their throat is blackish, their breast and sides dark sooty brown, their belly a paler and grayer brown, and... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tenorio Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | Machalilla National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 3 | Chirripó National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 4 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 5 | Piedras Blancas National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 6 | Arenal Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 7 | Darién National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 8 | Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 9 | Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 10 | Farallones de Cali National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 11 | Corcovado National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 12 | Braulio Carrillo National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 13 | Tortuguero National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 14 | Volcán Barú National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 15 | Manuel Antonio National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 16 | Los Nevados National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 17 | Carara National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Slaty Spinetail sighting in Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge on a given day, based on 22 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 265th most-seen of the 329 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May and August
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Slaty Spinetail in Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge on a given day, against under 5% in June–July and September–April, the lowest months.
Between 6 and 9 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Slaty 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.
8th of 17
Of the 17 parks where we can rate Slaty Spinetail sightings, Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge ranks 8th at under 5%. The best odds are in Tenorio Volcano National Park (Costa Rica, about 10%), Machalilla National Park (Ecuador, about 10%) and Chirripó National Park (Costa Rica, under 5%).
Same family: Furnariidae
The closest relatives of the Slaty Spinetail that you can see in Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge (family Furnariidae, Ovenbirds and Woodcreepers) are Cocoa Woodcreeper (about 30%), Streak-headed Woodcreeper (about 20%) and Black-striped Woodcreeper (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Slaty Spinetail is recorded against all the birds logged in Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge (22 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.
