Eastern Paraguay, south-eastern Brazil (southern Sío Paulo south to southern Rio Grande do Sul), north-eastern Argentina (Misiones, northern Corrientes) and eastern and southern Uruguay.
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).
Olive Spinetail (Cranioleuca obsoleta) [XC563846]
by id from Colonia Carlos Pellegrini, San Mart\u00edn, Corrientes, Argentina (call, song)
Olive Spinetail (Cranioleuca obsoleta) [XC550503]
by Bernabe Lopez-Lanus from Forestal Belga (Cruce Caballero), San Pedro, Misiones, Argentina (song)
Subspecies
No subspecies.
Closely related to Stripe-crowned Spinetail (Cranioleuca pyrrhophia), and suggested by some as being conspecific. Varying degrees of similarity between them in south-eastern Brazil, Uruguay and north-eastern Argentina demonstrated in recent study as indicative possibly of past or current hybridization or perhaps independent variation. Further study is needed. Both considered by some to form a superspecies that also includes Crested Spinetail (Cranioleuca subcristata), Bolivian Spinetail (Cranioleuca henricae), Pallid Spinetail (Cranioleuca pallida), Creamy-crested Spinetail (Cranioleuca albicapilla), Line-cheeked Spinetail (Cranioleuca antisiensis) and Baron's Spinetail (Cranioleuca baroni), but genetic data suggest that at least the last two of those are not part of this lineage.
Proposed subspecies siemiradskii (Paraná, in Brazil) regarded as indistinguishable.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet