Chaco Earthcreeper
Tarphonomus certhioides
Small earthcreeper with long tail and curved bill. Inhabits the ground and low vegetation in dense Chaco spiny woodlands and shrubby slopes, where it generally forages alone. Both sexes have uniform orangish-brown plumage. Note the white throat and the dark supercilium. Feeds on small insects and caterpillars gleaned out of the ground. Voice is a series of 5–10 loud notes increasing in volume.
Identification
The Chaco earthcreeper is about 16 cm (6.3 in) long and weighs 18 to 31 g (0.63 to 1.09 oz). It is a small earthcreeper with a long and very slightly decurved bill. The sexes' plumages are alike. Adults of the nominate subspecies have an indistinct orange-rufous supercilium on a mostly dark brown face. Their forehead is dull orange-rufous, their crown and back dull dark brown, and their rump and uppertail coverts somewhat rufescent brown. Their tail is generally dull brown with progressively more rufous from the central to the outermost feathers. Their wings are slightly more rufous brown than the back with rufous bases on the flight feathers. Their throat and cheeks are white. Their breast and belly are brown and their flanks and undertail coverts rufescent. Their iris is brown, their maxilla blackish to dark gray, their mandible slate gray to pinkish gray, and their legs and feet blackish to dark gray. Juveniles have an overall rufous tinge but their forehead is less rufous than adults'.<p>Subspecies T. c. luscinia has grayer (less rufescent) upperparts, more rufous on the wings, and paler underparts than the nominate. T. c. estebani has a paler back, a duller breast and belly, and no rufescent tinge on the flanks compared to the nominate.
Taxonomy
The Chaco earthcreeper has at times been placed in genera Ochetorhynchus and Upucerthia but since the early 2000s has been placed in its current Tarphonomus. It has at times been considered conspecific with the other member of Tarphonomus, the Bolivian earthcreeper (T. harterti). The two of them are sisters to the rusty-winged barbtail (Premnornis guttuliger), and these three are in turn sisters to the tuftedcheeks of genus Pseudocolaptes.<p>The Chaco earthcreeper has three subspecies, the nominate T. c. certhoides (d'Orbigny & Lafresnaye, 1838), T. c. luscinia (Burmeister, 1860), and T. c. estebani (Wetmore & Peters, JL, 1949).
- Scientific name
- Tarphonomus certhioides
- Authority
- (d'Orbigny & Lafresnaye, 1838)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Furnariidae
- Genus
- Tarphonomus
Range and habitat
Subspecies T. c. estebani of the Chaco earthcreeper is found in Santa Cruz Department in south central Bolivia, in northern Argentina, and in western Paraguay. T. c. luscinia is found in the western Argentina provinces of San Juan, La Rioja, Córdoba, Mendoza, and San Luis. The nominate T. c. certhoides is found in northeastern Argentina from Río Negro Province north to Formosa Province. It has also occurred once in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.<p>Subspecies T. c. estebani and T. c. certhoides of the Chaco earthcreeper inhabit dense scrublands and deciduous woodland in the Chaco Basin, especially areas with terrestrial bromeliads. T. c. luscinia inhabits slopes with dense shrubs in the Andean foothills. In elevation the species occurs up to 1,800 m (5,900 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: stable.
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Atticora tibialis
Small dark brown swallow found in lowlands and foothills. Namesake white thighs are very difficult to see; instead focus on the overall darkness with little contrast. Rump is slightly paler but does not stand out nearly as much as on Southern Rough-winged Swallow. Small flocks are usually found near forest, though sometimes found feeding over adjacent open areas.
Pallid Spinetail
Cranioleuca pallida
Small, acrobatic spinetail found in the canopy of montane forests; especially fond of epiphytes. Usually accompanies mixed-species flocks. Sandy brown overall with a rufous crown, tail, and wings. Note the well-marked eyebrow and dark ear coverts. Similar to Olive Spinetail, but with rufous (not brown) crown. The song is a fast and high-pitched trill.
Mottled Spinetail
Telacanthura ussheri
Medium-sized swift with erratic flight. Note the dark underparts and white rump patch, which separate it from other spinetails. Seen on the wing over moist savannah, woodland, and gallery forest. Often in areas with baobabs, which are a favored nesting site. Usually solo or in pairs. Similar in appearance to Little Swift, but Mottled Spinetail shows a pale band across the bottom of the belly, and flies more weakly, with the wings pushed forwards.
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