Patagonian Forest Earthcreeper
Upucerthia saturatior
Rather local breeder in drier Patagonian areas with open forest and shrubby slopes. Migrates across the Andes to winter in Chile, where it is found in matorral and other shrubby habitats. Often rather skulking. Very similar to Scale-throated Earthcreeper of the Andes and southern Patagonia, but limited range overlap. Patagonian Forest Earthcreeper averages darker with bolder pale eyebrow, slightly shorter and darker bill, and a different song. Also compare with Buff-winged Cinclodes, which has shorter and straight bill.
Identification
The Patagonian forest earthcreeper is 20 to 22 cm (7.9 to 8.7 in) long. It is a large earthcreeper with a medium-length and moderately decurved bill. The sexes' plumages are alike. Adults have a whitish supercilium on an otherwise grayish white and dark grayish brown face. Their crown is a dull dark grayish brown with some fainter mottling. Their nape, back, rump, and uppertail coverts are dark brownish gray with an olive tinge. Their tail's central feathers are dusky brown and the rest blackish brown. Their wings are grayish brown with dull rufous bases to the flight feathers. Their chin is whitish, their throat whitish with thin dark bars, their breast dark grayish with a brown scalloped appearance, their belly grayish, their flanks grayish brown, and their undertail coverts dull gray-brown. Their iris is dark brown, their bill blackish, and their legs and feet dark brown. Juveniles are similar to adults but with an even shorter bill.
Taxonomy
What is now the Patagonian forest earthcreeper was described in 1900 by W.E.D. Scott, but was long treated as a subspecies of the scale-throated earthcreeper. A 2009 paper provided the data to confirm it as a separate species.<p>The Patagonian forest earthcreeper is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Upucerthia saturatior
- Authority
- Scott, WED, 1900
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Furnariidae
- Genus
- Upucerthia
Range and habitat
The Patagonian forest earthcreeper is found in central Chile between Concepción and Valdivia provinces and in western Argentina between Neuquén and Chubut provinces. There are a few scattered records as far north in Chile as Santiago. It is found in Patagonia only in Argentina. It inhabits forest edges including the edges of clearings with the forest, and usually near bodies of water. It favors Nothofagus forest but inhabits other types as well. It is believed to spend the austral winter in dry deciduous forest and matorral near the Chilean coast. In elevation it occurs between 250 and 1,800 m (800 and 5,900 ft).
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
The Patagonian forest earthcreeper's movements have not been fully confirmed. However, evidence strongly suggests that it breeds only in Argentina and crosses the Andes to winter in Chile. <p>The Patagonian forest earthcreeper's diet has not been described but is assumed to be larval and adult arthropods. It typically forages alone or in loose pairs, always on the ground, and usually near tall rees, around bushes, or in boggy ground at the forest's edge. It vigorously probes the earth for prey and sometimes turns over chunks of soil or stones. It often perches in trees when not feeding, and sometimes takes prey from the ground to a perch.<p>Nothing is known about the Patagonian forest earthcreeper's breeding biology beyond that much evidence indicates it breeds in the austral summer and only in Argentina.<p>The Patagonian forest earthcreeper sometimes sings from a high perch. Its song is "1–2 sharp, short and lower-pitched initial notes followed by either a syncopated or a continuously delivered series of triplets...rendered 'p-p-tirik-tirik-tirik-tirik-tirik-tiruk' ". Its contact call is "a hollow 'pep' " that is given singly or in a series.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Sand Partridge
Ammoperdix heyi
A small, sandy-colored partridge of rocky arid zones. The male has a gray head with white ear patches and prominent bars on its sides. Females are plainer with more subdued patterns. Produces a high-pitched whistling noise from its wings when taking off. Runs on rocky slopes, wadis, and plains in pairs or small groups. The male gives a repeating, far-carrying “ku ku ku…”, often from a prominent rock.
Subdesert Mesite
Monias benschi
Odd ground-dwelling bird that is rarely seen by those not looking for it. Males have pale underparts with dark spots, while females have heavy reddish markings below. Generally in small groups, though most often seen singly in defense posture, frozen in a tree, after being flushed by a local guide. Loud call starts with inquisitive “tsik” calls, then ends with a loose rattle; usually given in strident chorus by multiple birds. Walks on the ground like Madagascar Buttonquail, but much larger and longer-tailed. Smaller, shorter-legged, and shorter-tailed than the couas.
Amur Falcon
Falco amurensis
The male of this small falcon is sooty gray with rufous-orange thighs and vent. The females are duller gray above, and their white underparts are well marked with dark chevrons. The combination of reddish-orange eyering, cere, and feet distinguishes them from all other falcons. These champion migrants breed in eastern Siberia and winter in southern Africa, often congregating in huge roosts on passage through India. They feed mainly on insects that they either catch on the wing or pick from the ground.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.