Thick-billed Miner
Geositta crassirostris
Chunky, stout-billed bird found only in southwestern Peru, where it inhabits coastal hills and arid Andean slopes. Plumage is mostly brown, lacking strong markings, but note its thick curved bill and pale eyebrow. Chestnut wing patch is usually only visible in flight. Short tail helps separate it from Buff-breasted Earthcreeper and White-throated Earthcreeper. Mostly terrestrial, and often seen perching on rocks.
Identification
The puna miner is a large member of its genus. It is 18.5 to 19 cm (7.3 to 7.5 in) long and weighs 42 to 55 g (1.5 to 1.9 oz). The sexes are alike. The nominate subspecies has a pale face with a creamy supercilium. It is brown or gray-brown from its crown to its rump. Its central tail feathers are brown or dusky brown and the rest are mostly rufous with dusky brown tips. Its wing coverts are brown or gray-brown with whitish buff or paler brown tips. Its primaries are dusky with much rufous on the inner ones, its secondaries rufous with wide dusky bar near the end, and its tertials are dusky brown with pale gray-brown edges. Its chin is white or whitish and its breast and belly are pale grayish buff. Its iris is brown, its heavy decurved bill has a blackish gray to black maxilla and a blue-gray or blue-gray and black mandible, and its legs and feet are whitish to grayish. Subspecies G. c. fortis has more reddish upperparts than the nominate, with more rufous and less of a dusky bar on the flight feathers.
Taxonomy
The thick-billed miner's taxonomy is unsettled. The International Ornithological Committee and BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World assign it two subspecies, the nominate G. c. crassirostris (Sclater, PL, 1866) and G. c. fortis (Berlepsch & Stolzmann, 1901). The Clements taxonomy does not recognize fortis, treating the thick-billed miner as monotypic.<p>The thick-billed and campo miner (G. poeciloptera) are sister species.
- Scientific name
- Geositta crassirostris
- Authority
- Sclater, PL, 1866
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Furnariidae
- Genus
- Geositta
Range and habitat
The exact extent of the thick-billed miner's range is not known. In general it is a bird of coastal hills and the west side of the Andes from central to southwestern Peru. The nominate subspecies is the more northerly of the two. It inhabits "arid boulder-strewn slopes, with scattered shrubs and columnar cacti." Near the coast it ranges in elevation between 300 and 800 m (1,000 and 2,600 ft) and in the Andes between 1,875 and 3,550 m (6,200 and 11,600 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The thick-billed miner appears to be a year-round resident.<p>The thick-billed miner forages on the ground, singly or in pairs. It walks and runs between probing and picking for food. Its diet has not been described but the stomach contents of specimens have contained insect parts, vegetable matter, and grit.<p>Nothing is known about the thick-billed miner's breeding biology. It is assumed to nest in a burrow in the ground like others of its genus.<p>The thick-billed miner's song is a "forceful, accelerating series of cueew notes often becoming a harsh, grating series of djeer-djeer-djeer-djeer ... notes". Its call is "a rising then falling mewing reew".
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Usambara Greenbul
Phyllastrephus albigula
A very small, warbler-like greenbul with an olive-green back, pale underparts, an olive-washed gray cap and nape, and a yellow or orange eye. Found in montane forest at middle elevations. Often joins mixed-species flocks. Very similar in appearance to Tiny Greenbul, but found at higher elevations and darker overall, with an olive-green wash to the crown and nape. Similar in overall coloration to Yellow-streaked Greenbul, but much smaller, with a pale eye. Voice apparently very similar to Tiny Greenbul’s. The call is a rough chattering trill that is often mixed with the song: an accelerating, syncopated series of low nasal notes.
Sulawesi Pygmy Woodpecker
Yungipicus temminckii
A small brown-and-white woodpecker with scattered pale bars and spots on the upperparts and dark-streaked white underparts. Male possess a red nape patch that is absent in females. Juvenile is drabber, with weaker barring and streaking. Singles or pairs can be found in any areas with trees, frequenting canopy and subcanopy in lowlands and mountains. Often accompanies mixed flocks. The only small woodpecker within its limited range. Barred upperparts also distinctive. Calls include a descending, metallic trill and soft, well-spaced “kip” notes. Also drums.
White-sided Hillstar
Oreotrochilus leucopleurus
Small hummingbird of the Andes from southern Bolivia through Argentina into central Chile; found in rocky and shrubby valleys, villages, and any open or semiopen areas with flowers. Often builds nest under eaves of buildings or bridges: a bulky cup of plant material and wool to insulate against cold nights. Fairly common. Readily identified in most of range by extensively white tail. Male has an emerald green gorget and a broad blue-black stripe on belly. Female is rather drab, but note slightly decurved bill, spotted throat, and tail pattern.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.