Russet-winged Spadebill

The russet-winged spadebill is the largest member of its genus. It is 12 to 12.5 cm (4.7 to 4.9 in) long and weighs about 17 g (0.60 oz). It has a large head and a longer tail than others of its genus. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have an olive-brown crown with a partially hidden white patch in the center. They have pale buff-white to yellowish as a spot above the lores, as an eye-ring, and on the ear coverts. They have dark brown lores, a dark stripe through the eye, and a dark stripe below the pale ear coverts. Their upperparts are olive-brown. Their wings are brown with wide russet edges on the coverts and flight feathers. Their tail is brown. Their throat is white and their underparts mostly dull yellow or white with an olive-brown wash on the breast and sides. They have a dark brown iris, a wide flat bill with a yellow-edged black maxilla and a yellowish mandible, and pale orange to dull pinkish legs and feet.

The russet-winged spadebill is found in southeastern Brazil from Espirito Santo south to northeastern Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul and from there west into eastern Paraguay and northeastern Argentina's Misiones Province. It is a bird of the Atlantic Forest, where it primarily inhabits the undergrowth of humid primary forest and mature secondary forest. In elevation it ranges from sea level to at least 1,000 m (3,300 ft).

The russet-winged spadebill feeds on arthropods. It typically forages singly and only once has been noted joining a mixed-species feeding flock. It sits still, typically in the crown of a small tree about 3 to 8 m (10 to 25 ft) above the ground, and captures prey mostly with short upward or outward sallies from the perch to grab it from the underside of leaves and twigs. After a sally it typically lands on a different perch.