Blackish Cinclodes
Cinclodes antarcticus
Rather local on seacoasts and remote islands south of Tierra del Fuego and on the Falklands. Favors rocky beaches and adjacent shoreline, especially with tussock grass clumps nearby (known as Tussacbird on the Falklands). Like other cinclodes, feeds on the ground, poking under seaweed, and can be very tame. No similar species in range: note dark sooty-brown plumage with only a ghosting of typical cinclodes face stripes and wing stripe. Some regional variation—bill has pale creamy patch at base on South American population and is all dark on birds in the Falklands.
Identification
The blackish cinclodes is 18 to 23 cm (7.1 to 9.1 in) long and weighs about 63 g (2.2 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies are mostly dark sooty brown, with a slightly paler throat and some dull rufous on the base of the flight feathers. The last is usually visible only in flight. Its iris is dark brown, its bill blackish, and its legs and feet blackish. Juveniles are generally browner than adults. Subspecies C. a. maculirostris is slightly larger than the nominate with a shorter bill and longer tail, and is blacker overall with a visibly yellowish base to its bill and no rufous on its wings.
Taxonomy
The blackish cinclodes' taxonomy is unsettled. The International Ornithological Committee and the Clements taxonomy assign it two subspecies, the nominate C. a. antarcticus (Garnot, 1826) and C. a. maculirostris (Dabbene, 1917. BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) treats the two taxa as separate species, retaining "blackish cinclodes" for antarcticus and calling maculirostris the "black cinclodes".<p>This article follows the one-species, two-subspecies, model.
- Scientific name
- Cinclodes antarcticus
- Authority
- (Garnot, 1826)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Furnariidae
- Genus
- Cinclodes
Range and habitat
The nominate subspecies of the blackish cinclodes is found on the Falkland Islands. Surveys through the late 1990s found them on 40 of the 59 islands studied. Subspecies C. a. maculirostris is found in southernmost mainland Chile, both Chilean and Argentine Tierra del Fuego, and other islands in the Cape Horn Archipelago.<p>The blackish cinclodes is primarily coastal though it does range as far inland as 0.5 km (0.3 mi). It favors landscapes of short grass and tussoc (tussock) grass Poa flabellata, and is also common around human habitations. Both subspecies are often found on rocky beaches near colonies of marine mammals and seabirds. In elevation they range from sea level to about 200 m (700 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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