Creamy-breasted Canastero
Asthenes dorbignyi
Local but often quite common in the Andes, favoring dry and rather open scrubby habitats, and also agricultural areas with hedges and taller trees. Large, bulky stick nests are often conspicuous in cacti and even in taller Eucalyptus trees. Often in pairs, foraging low to high in bushes and trees and running well on the ground with tail held cocked. Best identified by plain pale breast with variably contrasting rusty to buffy flanks and rump and a mostly dark tail. Plumage and voice vary regionally and multiple cryptic species likely involved.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Asthenes dorbignyi
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Furnariidae
- Genus
- Asthenes
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Mealy Amazon
Amazona farinosa
Large, bright green parrot of humid evergreen forest in tropical lowlands. Uncommon. Found in rainforest and adjacent clearings, not in open habitats. Most often seen flying overhead early and late in the day, usually in pairs. Best field mark is the big pale eyering on a fairly plain head; with a good view, the bluish crown can be seen. Like other parrots in the same genus, in flight shows a red patch on the flight feathers.
Blackish Pewee
Contopus nigrescens
Small, uniformly dark pewee, elusive in the canopy of humid forests, often at higher elevations in Andean foothills but also apparently patchily in Amazonian lowlands. Usually found perching upright at the top of tall trees. Call is a high “peep” like Tropical Pewee, sometimes double-noted.
Scribble-tailed Canastero
Asthenes maculicauda
Streaky brown bird found in grassy areas at very high elevations in the Andes above treeline. Its unstreaked chestnut forecrown, plain throat, and dark markings in the tail help to separate it from other canasteros. Habitat is also a good clue, as it prefers tall bunchgrass and avoids heavily grazed areas. Song is a buzzy, accelerating trill similar to other canasteros. Its rising “sue-wheat” call is more useful for identification.
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