Crag Chilia

Overview

The crag chilia, or crag earthcreeper (Ochetorhynchus melanurus), is a small bird in the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is endemic to Chile and currently assessed as a species of Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

Identification

• Adults are 18 to 19 cm long, featuring a narrow whitish supercilium, dark brown lores, and darkish brown upperparts with a rufous rump.
• The wings are darkish brown with a wide rufous band, while the breast is dull smoky greyish and the flanks are rufous.
• The bill has a blackish upper mandible and a pale grey lower mandible with a blackish tip, and the legs are blackish.
• The song consists of a short staccato chatter containing four to seven loud 'teet' notes, while the call is a metallic, abrupt 'ch' or 'ch-ch'.

Habitat

This species inhabits arid scrublands, shrubby rock hillsides, and cliffs with sparse vegetation in north-central and central Chile. It is found in the Atacama and Coquimbo regions by one subspecies and further south in the Valparaíso and O'Higgins regions by another. It typically moves from higher elevations to lower ones, sometimes as low as sea level, during the non-breeding season.

Diet

The crag chilia feeds predominantly on arthropods such as Orthoptera and Lepidoptera, along with seeds and fruits. It usually forages solitarily, gleaning from rocks and bushes and probing crevices for food.

Did you know?

Nests are constructed as bulky balls of sticks lined with feathers and are usually placed in rock cavities, although they have occasionally been found in holes in earth banks or even rural buildings.