McConnell's Spinetail

McConnell's spinetail is 15 to 17 cm (5.9 to 6.7 in) long and weighs 18 to 20 g (0.63 to 0.71 oz). It is one of the darker of the Synallaxis spinetails. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a thin pale line behind the eye on an otherwise grayish face. Their crown and nape are dark rufous; their back, rump and upperail coverts are dark olive-brown. Their wings are mostly rufous-chestnut with fuscous brown tips on the flight feathers. Their tail is dark chestnut; it is graduated and the feathers have pointed tips. Their chin and throat feathers are blackish with grayish white edges. Their underparts are mostly brownish gray with a slightly paler belly and a faint brown tinge on the flanks. Their iris is chestnut, their bill black, and their legs and feet olive. Juveniles are slightly paler overall than adults, with a gray and white barred throat and a browner breast and belly. Subspecies S. m. obscurior is overall darker and grayer than the nominate.

McConnell's spinetail has a disjunct distribution. The nominate subspecies is found on the tepuis of southern Venezuela, far western Guyana, and extrene northwestern Brazil. Subspecies S. m. obscurior is found in the lowlands of Suriname, French Guiana, and northeastern Brazil. The species inhabits the edges of montane and lowland evergreen forest, secondary forest, and in French Guiana some riparian forest. It favors dense undergrowth. In the tepui region it occurs at elevations between 1,000 and 1,900 m (3,300 and 6,200 ft); in the east it is mostly found from near sea level to about 1,000 m (3,300 ft).

The diet and foraging behavior of McConnell's spinetail are not well known. It is thought to feed on arthropods that it gleans from foliage and small branches, staying about 1 to 2 m (3 to 7 ft) above the ground. It is usually seen in pairs.