Leptasthenura xenothorax
The White-browed Tit-Spinetail (Leptasthenura xenothorax) is a diminutive and agile songbird, measuring approximately 15 cm (6 inches) in total length, including its strikingly long, spiny tail, and weighing a mere 8-10 grams. Its plumage features a distinctive white supercilium contrasting with a dark greyish crown, a streaked greyish back, and pale, faintly streaked underparts. A notable field mark is the rufous wash on its rump and undertail-coverts, complementing its graduated, dark-cente...
This species is an obligate inhabitant of high-elevation *Polylepis* woodlands, specifically favoring the gnarled, multi-layered bark of these trees for foraging and nesting. It typically occurs at elevations between 3,000 and 4,600 meters (9,800-15,100 ft) in the Andes.
Its diet consists primarily of small insects and other arthropods, which it expertly gleans from the bark, moss, and foliage of *Polylepis* trees using its slender bill.
White-browed Tit-Spinetails are highly active and arboreal, spending most of their daylight hours foraging within the intricate branches and bark of *Polylepis* trees. They exhibit an acrobatic foraging style, often hanging upside down or clinging to vertical trunks as they glean insects and smal...
The White-browed Tit-Spinetail is a resident endemic to a highly restricted and fragmented range in the high Andes of southern Peru. Its distribution is confined to relict patches of *Polylepis* forest in the departments of Cusco and ApurÃmac. Key locations include the Cordillera Vilcanota, Cordi...
Endangered
- The White-browed Tit-Spinetail is an obligate species, meaning it is entirely dependent on the endangered *Polylepis* forests of the high Andes for its survival. - It is one of the smallest Furnariids, weighing about as much as two quarters. - Its common name refers to its distinct white 'eyebr...