Cranioleuca weskei
The Vilcabamba Spinetail (Cranioleuca weskei) is a diminutive yet strikingly marked passerine, measuring approximately 14-15 cm in length and weighing around 12-15 grams, characterized by its slender build and relatively long tail. Its plumage features olive-brown upperparts, a distinctive rufous crown, and a contrasting dull whitish supercilium above a dusky eyestripe. The throat and breast are whitish with fine dusky streaking, transitioning to a dull whitish-olive belly, while its wings an...
This spinetail is an obligate inhabitant of humid montane cloud forest, elfin forest, and stunted humid montane forest. It typically occurs at elevations ranging from 2,300 to 3,500 meters above sea level.
The diet of the Vilcabamba Spinetail consists primarily of small arthropods and insects. It forages actively by gleaning them from bark, moss, bromeliads, and foliage.
The Vilcabamba Spinetail is a diurnal and highly active insectivore, typically observed foraging solitarily or in pairs, though it frequently joins mixed-species flocks. Its foraging strategy involves actively gleaning arthropods from moss-covered branches, bromeliads, and the dense understory ve...
The Vilcabamba Spinetail's distribution is incredibly restricted, being an obligate resident endemic to a very specific, isolated mountain range: the Vilcabamba Mountains in the Cusco region of southeastern Peru. Its known occurrences are confined to a narrow elevational band within these mountai...
Endangered
- The Vilcabamba Spinetail was only formally described to science in 1985, making it a relatively recent discovery in the avian world. - It is a true endemic, found nowhere else on Earth except a small, specific mountain range in southeastern Peru. - Its scientific name, *weskei*, honors biologis...