Spectacled Prickletail Siptornis striaticollis Scientific name definitions

The sole member of the genus Siptornis, the Spectacled Prickletail is confined to montane evergreen forests of the east Andes, where it occurs very locally from southern Colombia south through Ecuador to northernmost Peru. The species’ altitudinal range spans 1300 to 2400 m. It superficially recalls one of the xenops, given its small size and overall brown plumage, but the bill shape, bright chestnut crown, and bold white post-ocular spot or stripe immediately mark it as different. The Spectacled Prickletail is usually found alone or in pairs, and is most frequently encountered within mixed-species foraging flocks, acrobatically searching for arthropods on the underside of leaves, in bark crevices and epiphytes, and in balls of moss. The song is a high-pitched trill, which is easily overlooked. The species builds a spherical moss ball nest, which is placed near the tip of the supporting branch, and is entered by the birds from below.

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