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Light-crowned spinetail

species of bird

Specimen drawers, botanical folios and brass scientific instruments under study light
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 21, 2026
Entity authorityQ1029788 ↗
Source-derived summary

The light-crowned spinetail (Cranioleuca albiceps) is a species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Bolivia and Peru.

Taxonomy and systematics

The light-crowned spinetail, the Marcapata spinetail (C. marcapatae), and the Vilcabamba spinetail (C. weskei) are sister species. The light-crowned spinetail has two subspecies, the nominate C. a. albiceps (D'Orbigny & Lafresnaye, 1837) and C. a. discolor (Zimmer, JT, 1935).

Description

The light-crowned spinetail is 14 to 15 cm (5.5 to 5.9 in) long and weighs 13 to 17 g (0.46 to 0.60 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a dark gray-brown supercilium with a black line above it and some blackish around the eye on an otherwise dark grayish brown face. Their forehead is ocraceous buff and their crown white to buffy or tawny.

Editorial summary

“Light-crowned spinetail” enters the record as species of bird. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Light-crowned, spinetail and species can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA practical orientation to terminology and classification, particularly when read beside dated observations, specimens or technical literature. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1837, 1935—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Light-crowned, spinetail and species.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Light-crowned spinetail” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Light-crowned, spinetail and species provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1029788. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1837 and 1935.

Critical limits

Scientific names, classifications and consensus can change while older terminology persists in catalogues and historical literature. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.

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  • Classification context
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  2. Expand the search: follow Light-crowned spinetail primary sources, Light-crowned spinetail archive and Light-crowned research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Light-crowned spinetail” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.