Pale-breasted Spinetail

The pale-breasted spinetail (Synallaxis albescens) is a passerine bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Costa Rica, Panama, Trinidad, and in every mainland South American country except Chile and Ecuador. == Taxonomy and systematics == The pale-breasted spinetail's taxonomy is in flux. The International Ornithological Committee (IOC) recognizes these 11 subspecies: S. a. latitabunda Bangs, 1907 S. a. insignis Zimmer, JT, 1935 S. a. occipitalis Madarász, G, 1903 S. a. littoralis Todd, 1948 S. a. perpallida Todd, 1916 S. a. nesiotis Clark, AH, 1902 S. a. trinitatis Zimmer, JT, 1935 S. a. josephinae Chubb, C, 1919 S. a. inaequalis Zimmer, JT, 1935 S. a. albescens Temminck, 1823 S. a. australis Zimmer, JT, 1935 The Clements taxonomy recognizes two more subspecies, S. a. hypoleuca (Ridgway, 1909) and S. a. griseonota (Todd, 1948). The IOC includes hypoleuca within latitabunda and griseonota within inaequalis. BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World does not recognize the two Clements entries nor trinitatis. What is now the dark-breasted spinetail (S. albigularis) was previously treated by some authors as conspecific with the pale-breasted spinetail. Some now treat them as sister species. This article follows the IOC 11-subspecies model.…