Bisbita de Hellmayr

Identificación

Hellmayr's pipit is a medium-sized brown bird weighing 18.6g. It has pink legs and a light pink bill. Its back is boldly streaked and its breast and flanks are only faintly streaked. It can be confused with the similar-looking Short-billed pipit but its throat is white instead of streaked and it lacks the white submoustachial stripe. Eggs are oval in shape and white with brown speckles.

Taxonomía

Hellmayr's pipit was described by Ernst Hartert in 1909 who placed it in the genus Anthus. The bird is named after Austrian ornithologist, Carl Eduard Hellmayr. There are currently three recognized species:

Nombre científico

Anthus hellmayri

Autoridad

Hartert, EJO, 1909

Orden

Passeriformes

Familia

Motacillidae

Género

Anthus

Distribución y hábitat

Hellmayr's pipit is found in three disjunct populations across the southern half of South America. It is found in the Andes from southern Peru, through Bolivia into northwestern Argentina, as well as in the Andes of southern Argentina and Chila. The eastern population (A. h. brasilianus) ranges from Espinhaço Range in the Brazilian states of Minas Gerais and Bahia, south down into Uruguay and eastern Argentina, and west into the chaco of Paraguay. It occurs from sea level to 3,700 meters.

Migración

Complete migrants

Comportamiento

It is year round in most of its range, with its breeding season being in the rainy season from September to April. Males are known to perform aerial displays for females during breeding season. The population in Chile and southern Argentina (A. h. dabbenei) is known to be migratory. They are mainly insectivores. Nests are cup-shaped with a grass dome built over top of it being roofed with dry stems. Nests are built on the ground in grass mounds. They have a maximum clutch size of five eggs. Both parents participate in the feeding of the fledglings.

Conservación

Tendencia poblacional

stable