Chilean Mockingbird
Mimus thenca
Common and conspicuous bird of central Chile, especially in drier regions. Favors open and semiopen habitats, especially matorral and scrubby hillsides, but also in town parks and farmland. Often seen perched on roadside wires and posts, or running along roadsides with tail cocked. No other mockingbirds normally in same range. Note bold pale eyebrow, dark whisker, dark streaks on flanks, and bold white tail corners in flight.
Identification
The Chilean mockingbird is 28 to 29 cm (11 to 11 in) long and weighs 66 g (2.3 oz). The male is somewhat larger than the female. Adults have a wide whitish supercilium . Their crown, neck, and back are brownish gray with darker streaks and their rump browner. The wings and tail are blackish. The wings show two narrow bars when folded. The outermost tail feathers have white edges and most of the others have white tips. The throat is whitish, the chest brownish gray, the belly dirty white, and the flanks buffy with blackish streaks. The juvenile is similar but more buffy below with more streaks.
Taxonomy
The Chilean mockingbird is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Mimus thenca
- Authority
- (Molina, 1782)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Mimidae
- Genus
- Mimus
Range and habitat
The Chilean mockingbird is found in Chile from Copiapó Province in the Atacama Region south to Los Lagos, Puerto Montt, and Chiloé Island. A small population also exists in Neuquén Province, Argentina.<p>The Chilean mockingbird inhabits a wide variety of biomes, most of which are characterized by scrub, shrubs, or widely spaced trees. Examples include succulent coastal scrub, inland savanna bushland, and evergreen Chilean matorral. It also occurs at the edges of low relict woodland patches such as those in Bosque de Fray Jorge National Park and in disturbed habitats, though only rarely in urban areas. It shuns Nothofagus and Cryptocarya woodlands in the south and plantations of introduced pines in central Chile. In elevation it ranges from sea level to 2,200 m (7,200 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: stable.
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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