White-chinned thistletail

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White-chinned thistletail
song recorded in Ecuador

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Furnariidae
Genus: Asthenes
Species:
A. fuliginosa
Binomial name
Asthenes fuliginosa
(Lafresnaye, 1843)
Subspecies

See text

Synonyms

Schizoeaca fuliginosa

The white-chinned thistletail, or colicardo barbiblanco in Ecuador, (Asthenes fuliginosa) is a species of

Furnariidae. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.[2]

Taxonomy and systematics

The white-chinned thistletail has four subspecies:[2]

What are now several other individual species of thistletail were previously also treated as subspecies of the white-chinned thistletail. All of them were in genus Schizoeaca but genetic data showed that the genus is embedded within Asthenes. In addition, the mouse-colored thistletail (A. griseomurina) possibly should be treated as a fifth subspecies of the white-chinned.[3][4]

Description

The white-chinned thistletail is 18 to 20 cm (7.1 to 7.9 in) long and weighs 14 to 20 g (0.49 to 0.71 oz). It is the largest thistletail. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the

barbs at the feather ends that give a ragged appearance. Their chin is whitish. Their throat and the rest of their underparts are grayish with a brownish tinge on the flanks. Their iris color is highly variable, their maxilla black to dark gray, their mandible dark with a pinkish to whitish base, and their legs and feet blue-gray to gray.[4][5][6]

The other subspecies of the white-chinned thistletail differ mostly in the color of their upperparts. Subspecies A. f. fumigata has a darker back than the nominate and browner underparts. A. f. peruviana has duller upperparts than the nominate, with a darker chin, little or no eyering, and a gray or blue-gray mandible. A. f. plengei has redder upperparts and tail than the nominate, with a longer and whiter supercilium and a dark gray lower throat with whitish streaks.[4][6]

Distribution and habitat

The subspecies of the white-chinned thistletail are found thus:[4]

The white-chinned thistletail inhabits

cloudforest, and dense undergrowth at tree line. Locally it also occurs in Polylepis woodland. In elevation it generally ranges between 2,800 and 4,000 m (9,200 and 13,100 ft). In Ecuador it occurs below 3,500 m (11,500 ft); in Colombia it occurs as low as 2,400 m (7,900 ft).[4][5][6]

Behavior

Movement

The white-chinned thistletail is a year-round resident throughout its range.[4]

Feeding

The white-chinned thistletail feeds mostly on

mixed-species feeding flocks. It feeds in the understory, gleaning prey from foliage and small branches, and sometimes makes acrobatic moves.[4][5][6]

Dickcissel male perched on a metal pole singing, with neck stretched and beak open.

Songs and calls
Listen to white-chinned thistletail on xeno-canto

Vocalization

One of the white-chinned thistletail's songs is "a high-pitched, weak, slightly accelerating and ascending trill".[4] Others are a "descending series of somewhat higher-pitched notes that accelerates into trill, and a slightly ascending series of tripled notes, 'tididit, tididit, tididit' ".[5] Its calls include "a high-pitched, sharp, penetrating 'pyeek' or 'kick' "[4] and "chink"[5].

Status

The

IUCN has assessed the white-chinned thistletail as being of Least Concern. It has a large range and an unknown population size; the latter is believed to be stable. No immediate threats have been identified.[1] It is considered "generally fairly common in appropriate habitat" but "timber-line habitats have been greatly altered and reduced by fire and grazing throughout most of the Andes".[4]

References

  1. ^
    doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22702217A130273037.en
    . Retrieved 8 November 2023.
  2. ^
    Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2023). "Ovenbirds, woodcreepers"
    . IOC World Bird List. v 13.2. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  3. ^ Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, G. Del-Rio, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 28 September 2023. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved October 20, 2023
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Remsen, Jr., J. V. (2020). White-chinned Thistletail (Asthenes fuliginosa), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.whcthi1.01 retrieved November 8, 2023
  5. ^
    ISBN 978-0-8014-8721-7
    .
  6. ^
    ISBN 978-0-9827615-0-2
    .
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