Line-fronted Canastero

Overview

The line-fronted canastero (Asthenes urubambensis) is a Near Threatened bird species belonging to the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is a year-round resident found in the high Andes of Peru and Bolivia, where it inhabits the ecotone between timberline and páramo grasslands.

Identification

• Measures 17 to 18 cm in length with a narrow spiny tail; adults of the nominate subspecies display a conspicuous whitish supercilium widening past the eye on a light brownish face with narrow dark brown streaks.
• Forehead is dark brown with well-defined golden-brown stripes fading onto a brown crown, while the hindneck and upperparts are rich brown with blurry light brown streaks.
• Breast and belly are paler buff-brown with wide dark brown and pale buff streaks that fade onto the pale belly; the bill features a black to grey-horn maxilla and a silver-grey to pinkish mandible.
• Song is described as an ascending trill and the call as a high 'tseut'.

Habitat

The species inhabits the ecotone between timberline and páramo grasslands, characterised by mossy scrub, Gynoxys and Ribes bushes, and groves of Polylepis trees at elevations between 3,050 and 4,300 m. Its distribution is disjunct, with one subspecies in the central Andes of Peru and the nominate subspecies ranging from the Peruvian departments of Cuzco and Puno south into western Bolivia.

Diet

It feeds on arthropods, foraging singly or in pairs by gleaning prey from tree branches and shrubs, and occasionally from the ground.

Did you know?

Although the species was originally assessed as Threatened by the IUCN in 1988, it has been rated Near Threatened since 2004 despite a decreasing population estimated between 2,500 and 10,000 mature individuals, largely due to habitat degradation from livestock grazing and fire in Bolivia.