Common Miner (Geositta cunicularia)

Identification & Behavior: ~15.5 cm (6.1 in). The Common Miner has gray-brown upperparts with pale superciliary. The underparts are brownish with dusky streaking on the breast. The wing coverts are grayish broadly edged with sandy brown. The webbing on the wing and base of the tail are rufous, which is readily seen when the bird flies. Birds of the coastal lowlands have less rufous on the tail. It forages on the ground, on short grass and open areas. It is similar to the Coastal Miner but is distinguished by having dusky streaking on the breast, darker upperparts, and rufous webbing on the base of the tail. These two miners are not known to overlaps.

Status: The Common Miner has two disjunct populations, one in the high Andes (3300-4800 m) and the other on the coastal plain of southwest Peru below 800 m. It also occurs in Bo, Br, and Ch.

Name in Spanish: Minero Común.

Sub-species: Common Miner (Geositta cunicularia juninensis) Taczanowski, 1884.  Andes of C Peru (Junín, Huancavelica).
(Geositta cunicularia titicacae), J. T. Zimmer, 1935.   Andes of S Peru (Ayacucho to Puno), Bolivia (La Paz and Cochabamba to Potosí), N Chile (Tarapacá) and NW Argentina (Jujuy to Mendoza).
(Geositta cunicularia frobeni), (R. A. Philippi and Landbeck), 1864.  Pacific slope of Andes in S Peru (Arequipa to Tacna).
(Geositta cunicularia georgei), Koepcke, 1965.  coastal S Peru (S Ica, W Arequipa).
(Geositta cunicularia deserticolor), Hellmayr, 1924.  coastal S Peru (Arequipa) S to N Chile (N Atacama).

Meaning of Name: Geositta: Gr. geo= ground and genus Sitta, Linnaeus, 1758, nuthatch. One that looks like a (ground) nuthatch. cunicularia: L. cuniculus= mine, underground passage, hole. Cunicularius= burrower, miner.

See more of the Family Furnariidae