Junin Canastero
Asthenes virgata
Chunky, streaked brown bird with a long tail that is often held cocked. Warm reddish brown with extensive white streaking through its head, back, and sides. Forages on or near the ground in open, high-elevation habitats, often with tall bunches of grass; occasionally found around the treeline or the edges of Polylepis forests. Compared to the similar Line-fronted Canastero found in more heavily vegetated habitats, Junin Canastero is larger with a streaked back, a thicker bill, and a paler white breast with more diffuse streaking.
Identification
The Junin canastero is about 17.5 to 18 cm (6.9 to 7.1 in) long; one speciment weighed 22 g (0.78 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a narrow buff supercilium on an otherwise ochraceous brown face. Their crown is black with orange brown streaks. Their nape and upper back are black with pale buff streaks. Their lower back, rump, and uppertail coverts are medium brown or olive brown with black and buff streaks. Their wing coverts are olive brown with black and buff streaks. Their outer flight feathers are rufous with reddish brown edges and the inner ones dusky brown with olive brown edges; all have dusky tips. Their central pair of tail feathers are dusky brown, the next pair have dusky brown inner webs and rufous outer webs with dusky edges, and the other three pairs are rufous with a black line on the outer web and black and dusky mottling on the inner web. Their chin is ochraceous buff. Their breast and belly are pale creamy brown with faint tawny olive streaks on the breast. Their flanks are tawny olive with buffy white streaks and their vent area is tawny. Their iris is dark brown, their maxilla horn, their mandible grayish pink, and their legs and feet olive.
Taxonomy
The Junin canastero is monotypic. It and the scribble-tailed canastero (A. maculicauda) have at times been suggested as subspecies of the many-striped canastero (A. flammulata). Genetic data show the three to be separate but closely related sister species. In central Peru the Junin canastero's range slightly overlaps that of the many-striped canastero, and hybrids of the two species are known from that zone.
- Scientific name
- Asthenes virgata
- Authority
- (Sclater, PL, 1874)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Furnariidae
- Genus
- Asthenes
Range and habitat
The Junin canastero has a disjunct distribution in central and southern Peru. It is found where the departments of Junín, Pasco, and Lima meet and also from Ayacucho department through Cuzco and Apurímac departments slightly into Puno department. There are scattered sightings between these two population centers.<p>The Junin canastero primarily inhabits humid landscapes with tall bunch grass, sometimes those with scattered bushes and near stands of polylepis. It also sometimes occurs in rocky areas of bunchgrass without bushes or trees. In elevation it ranges between 3,300 and 4,600 m (10,800 and 15,100 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The Junin canastero is a year-round resident throughout its range.<p>The Junin canastero's diet has not been studied; it is assumed to be mostly or entirely arthropods. It usually forages singly or in pairs, and mostly on the ground.<p>Nothing is known about the Junin canastero's breeding biology.<p>The Junin canastero's song is "a dry, accelerating, descending trill sometimes with a stuttering quality: tzree-tzree-tzree'ti'ti'ti'ti-ti'ti'ti-ti'ti'ti-ti'ti'tu". Its calls include "a 'mewing ... tuuuiit' and, in alarm, a complaining eek".
Conservation
- Population trend
- unknown
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
White-bellied Crested Flycatcher
Elminia albiventris
Slim, dark member of the fairy flycatcher family. Shows a blackish head, a slight crest, and an inconspicuous white lower belly. Found in the understory and mid-story of montane forest. Often in pairs, frequently joining mixed-species flocks. A perky, active bird that never seems to stop moving. Similar to Dusky Crested-Flycatcher, but generally found at higher elevations, and shows white on the belly. Also similar to White-tailed Crested-Flycatcher, but smaller, with less white on the belly and no white in the tail.
European Herring Gull
Larus argentatus
A large gull found throughout northern Europe. Adults have a fairly pale gray back, pale eye, and dull pinkish legs. Takes four years for immatures to progress from mostly brown to fully white and gray adult plumage; intermediate plumages are often mottled and messy. Extremely variable plumage can make identification a challenge. Adults can normally be identified by a combination of their large size and pale-gray back. Usually shows a dull pinkish base to the bill by the first winter, and develops a pale eye by the second winter. Some immature birds can fade to almost white, especially in their first or second summer, but they always show darker wingtips. Occurs inland and along the coast, frequenting fishing boats, beaches, lakes, and landfills. Often forms large flocks with other gulls.
Bornean Shortwing
Brachypteryx erythrogyna
A small, dark songster of montane rainforest floor and undergrowth on Borneo. Male is overall dark indigo-blue with an indistinct, often concealed white eyebrow. Female has chestnut underparts, face and rump, duller chestnut-brown crown, wings and tail, with slaty-gray back, shoulders and sides. Forages on the ground where it usually stays hidden but also known to hop around rocks above the treeline. More often heard than seen. Song is an atmospheric, up-and-down series of long, metallic notes. Call, a sharp “click!”
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.