Scaled spinetail facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Scaled spinetail |
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Cranioleuca
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| Species: |
muelleri
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The scaled spinetail (Cranioleuca muelleri) is a small bird that lives in the Amazon River area of Brazil. It belongs to a bird family called Furnariidae. This bird is special because it is found only in this part of the world. It likes to live in forests that get flooded sometimes, called várzea forests, and also in tropical swamplands.
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What Does the Scaled Spinetail Look Like?
The scaled spinetail is a dark bird. Its belly and chest look a bit scaly. It has a light stripe above its eye, called a supercilium. The top part of its body is dark brown.
Its head, wings, and tail are a reddish-brown color. Its tail is special because it gets narrower towards the end. The feathers at the base of its tail are stiff and pointed at the tips.
The feathers on its throat, chest, and belly are light buff-brown. These feathers have dark olive edges. This makes them look rough and scaly, which is how the bird got its name.
How Big Is It?
This bird is about 14–15 cm (5.5–5.9 in) long. That's about the size of a small sparrow!
Where Does the Scaled Spinetail Live?
The scaled spinetail lives only in the eastern part of the Amazon River in Brazil. You can find it in areas like eastern Amazonas, eastern and southern Amapá, and Mexiana Island in Pará.
It prefers to live in tropical evergreen forests that get flooded. It stays in the lower and middle parts of these forests. These special forests are called Brazilian várzea forests. The bird lives at elevations from 0 to 200 meters above sea level.
What Does the Scaled Spinetail Eat?
The scaled spinetail mainly eats small creatures called arthropods. These are like insects and spiders.
It usually hunts for food in pairs. Sometimes, it joins other types of birds to look for food. It searches for insects by picking them off tree bark and plants near rivers. It looks for food from the lower parts of the forest up to the middle branches.
This bird is good at moving along small branches. When the forest floods, the spinetail stays in the middle of the trees. It looks for insects that might be floating on plants in the water.
Is the Scaled Spinetail in Danger?
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) says the scaled spinetail is a "least concern" species. This means it's not in immediate danger of disappearing. However, not much is known about this bird. It seems to be uncommon, and its population is probably small.
Scientists think that this bird could lose about half of its home in the next three generations. This is because of deforestation in the Amazon.
Threats to Its Home
The biggest danger to the scaled spinetail is that people are cutting down forests in the Amazon. This land is being cleared to raise cattle and grow soy. New roads are also being built, which makes it easier to cut down more trees.
This bird is thought to be very sensitive to its habitat being broken up. It also doesn't do well when the edges of the forest are changed.
