Buff-breasted Earthcreeper

Overview

The buff-breasted earthcreeper (Upucerthia validirostris) is a medium-sized bird in the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found across parts of South America, specifically in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru.

Identification

• Length of 17 to 21 cm with a weight of 30 to 45 g and a long, strongly decurved bill.
• Dull brownish gray upperparts, a dark brown tail with rufous on the outer feathers, and much rufous at the base of the wing primaries.
• Throat and upper breast are grayish white with brownish specks or a scaly appearance, contrasting with plain light buffish lower breast and belly.
• Song varies by subspecies, ranging from a long dry trill of 'tyik' notes in the nominate to a rich, irregular trill in others, accompanied by calls like a low 'chwit' or metallic 'click'.

Habitat

This species inhabits puna grassland and arid montane scrublands, favouring dry ravines with dense scrub and rocky or shrubby slopes while shunning level ground. Its range covers the Andes from Peru south into Chile and through western Bolivia into far northwestern Argentina.

Diet

The bird feeds on adult and larval arthropods. It usually forages singly or in pairs, probing in the ground and gleaning from the surface.

Did you know?

Breeding occurs in the austral summer, with the bird nesting in a chamber at the end of a burrow in an earthen bank or in a crevice in rocks, lined with grasses. The clutch size is limited to just two eggs.