Cordilleran Canastero (Asthenes modesta)

Identification & Behavior: ~16 cm (6.2 in). The Cordilleran Canastero has an unmarked brown back. It has a narrow supercilium from the eye. The sides of the head, neck, throat and upper breast are largely unmarked. The rest of the underparts are plain whitish brown. It has a streaked orange chin patch. The tail is brown and often kept cocked. The outer tail feathers are broadly edged with rufous. It forages on the ground in bunch grass with scattered rocks. It is very similar to the Streak-throated Canastero but is distinguished by having an unmarked back, plain sides of the head, throat, and breast, and by a brown tail with outer tail feathers broadly edged with rufous.

Status: The Cordilleran Canastero is uncommon in the southern half of the high Andes of Peru, at elevations ranging between 3600-4600 m. It also occurs in Bo and Ch.

Name in Spanish: Canastero Cordillerano.

Sub-species: Cordilleran Canastero (Asthenes modesta proxima), Chapman, 1921.  Andes of C & S Peru (Junín S to Cuzco).
(Asthenes modesta modesta), (Eyton), 1851.  Andes of SW Peru (Arequipa, Puno) and W Bolivia (W La Paz, Oruro, Potosí) S to N Chile (Tarapacá, Antofagasta) and NW Argentina (Jujuy, Salta, Catamarca).

Meaning of Name: Asthenes: Gr. a= a negative prefix and sthenos= power. asthenes= insignificant, powerless. modesta: L. modestus= plain, modest, unassuming.

See more of the Family Furnariidae