Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay (B), Venezuela.
Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.
Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).
Pale-breasted Spinetail (Synallaxis) [XC785601]
by Hans Groot from Loma Merch\u00e1n, Bucaramanga, Colombia (uncertain)
Pale-breasted Spinetail (Synallaxis albescens) [XC371514]
by Robson Silva e Silva from Po\u00e7\u00f5es, Bahia, Brazil (song)
Subspecies
Close relationship to Dark-breasted Spinetail (Synallaxis albigularis) and Spix's Spinetail (Synallaxis spixi) suggested by plumage and vocal similarities. Considered by some authors to be possibly the sister-species of former, which was once regarded as conspecific. Proposed subspecies pullata is a synonym of nominate subspecies of that species. Reported vocal differences of subspecies australis suggest that it may be a separate species.
Proposed subspecies hypoleuca (central Panama), described as paler below, is considered by most authors to be synonymous with latitabunda. Subspecies nesiotis originally described (from Margarita I, off northern Venezula) as like nominate but paler, but, with its distribution expanded to include large areas of mainland, its distinguishing characters are unclear. Proposed subspecies trinitatis (Trinidad and northern Venezuela) said to have darker crown and wing-coverts and more buff-brown back than that subspecies, but these characters not corroborated by subsequent authors. Proposed subspecies griseonota, from confluence of R Tapajós and R Amazon (Brazil), described as having paler crown and wing-coverts and more greyish underparts than inaequalis, but, since latter recorded from both eastern and west of that area, its acceptance as a valid taxon requires corroboration.
The following 13 subspecies are recognised:
latitabunda Bangs, 1907 - South-western Costa Rica, Panama and north-western Colombia.
littoralis Todd, 1948 - Coast of northern Colombia.
insignis Zimmer, JT, 1935 - Northern and central Colombia (Cauca and Magdalena Valleys, and Boyacá) and western Venezuela (southern Apure).
perpallida Todd, 1916 - Extreme northern Colombia (Guajira Peninsula) and north-western Venezuela (north-western Zulia east to western Falcón, south to northern shore of L Maracaibo and Lara).
occipitalis Madarász, 1903 - North-western Venezuela (Perijá Mts, Mérida, Táchira) and north-central Colombia (Norte de Santander, Santander), evidently in montane areas.
nesiotis Clark, AH, 1902 - Northern Colombia (Santa Marta region) and northern Venezuela (southern Táchira and Apure east to Sucre, Monagas, extreme northern Amazonas and northern Bolívar, also Margarita I and Cubagua I). Also Trinidad, including Bocas Is.
josephinae Chubb, C, 1919 - Southern Venezuela (central Amazonas, central Bolívar), Guyana, Surinam and northern Brazil (Roraima).
inaequalis Zimmer, JT, 1935 - French Guiana and north-central Brazil (both sides of R Amazon between R Madeira and R Tapajós).
australis Zimmer, JT, 1935 - Extreme south-eastern Peru (Madre de Dios), eastern Bolivia (Beni south to Tarija and Santa Cruz), western Paraguay, north-western and central Argentina (Salta and Formosa south to Mendoza, La Pampa and Buenos Aires).
albescens Temminck, 1823 - Southern and eastern Brazil, eastern Paraguay and north-eastern Argentina (Misiones).
trinitatis Zimmer, JT, 1935 - Eastern Venezuela and Trinidad.
hypoleuca Ridgway, 1909 - Pacific coast of southern Panama and north-western Colombia.
griseonota Todd, 1948 - Central Brazil (lower Rio Tapajós region).
BirdLife International Species Factsheet