The Story
I photographed this Silvery-throated Spinetail (Synallaxis subpudica) at Pueblito Antiguo in Cuítiva, by Lago de Tota, Boyacá, Colombia, at about 3,030 meters. It is endemic to Colombia’s Eastern Andes, mostly between 2,100 and 3,200 meters, at the edges of montane forest and in second growth. Its wing coverts are chestnut. Its nest is a bulky mass of thorny sticks with a horizontal entrance tube, and its song is a fast, accelerating series of chattering notes that fades away. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I photographed it with a Canon R5 and the RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L, at 1/500 sec, f/6.7, ISO 3200, −0.5 EV. Cuítiva sits on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense between Sogamoso, Aquitania and Tota, and its lands run from about 2,700 to 3,200 meters beside Lago de Tota, Colombia’s largest lake.
©2021 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Silvery-throated Spinetail (Synallaxis subpudica) belongs to the family Furnariidae (Ovenbirds and Woodcreepers) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2024), with the population trend listed as stable. Source: IUCN Red List