The rufous-breasted spinetail (Synallaxis erythrothorax) is a species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae.

The Clements taxonomy adds a third, S. e. furtiva (Bangs & Peters, 1927), that the other two systems include within the nominate.

Adults of the nominate subspecies have a sepia brown face, crown, nape, back, rump and uppertail coverts.

Subspecies S. e. pacifica is overall paler than the nominate, with a gray (instead of black) lower throat and less olive on the flanks.

It is found from Veracruz, northern Oaxaca, and the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico south on the Caribbean side through Belize and Guatemala into northwestern Honduras.

Subspecies S. e. pacifica is found from southwestern Chiapas in Mexico south on the Pacific side through Guatemala into El Salvador.

[6][7][8] The rufous-breasted spinetail's breeding season has not been fully defined but includes at least late March to September.

[1] "The impacts humans will have on the spinetail will depend on how much acceptable secondary habitat increases compared to the rates of complete deforestation, which is not tolerated by the bird.