Puna Miner (Geositta punensis)

Identification & Behavior: ~15.5 cm (6.1 in). The Puna Miner has gray-brown upperparts with a pale superciliary. The wing coverts are grayish broadly edged with gray-brown. It shows a rufous area formed by the outer webbing of the flight feathers.  The throat and rest of the underparts are pale with a variable amount of rufous tinge on the sides of the belly and flanks. The webbing on the wing and base of the tail are rufous, which is readily seen when the bird flies. It forages on the ground on short grass and open areas. It is similar to the Coastal Miner but their ranges do not overlap. The also similar Common Miner is larger and have dusky streaking on the breast.   

Status: The Puna Miner is uncommon in the high Andes of extreme southern Peru at elevations ranging between 3900-4200 m. It also occurs in Bo and Ch.

Name in Spanish: Minero de la Puna.

Sub-species: Puna Miner (Geositta punensis), Dabbene, 1917.

Meaning of Name: Geositta: Gr. geo= ground and genus Sitta, Linnaeus, 1758, nuthatch. One that looks like a (ground) nuthatch. punensis: Spanish puna (from Quechua), the high bleak Andean plateau above about 10000 ft.

See more of the Family Furnariidae