Thick-billed Miner (Geositta crassirostris)

Identification & Behavior: ~18.5 cm (7.2 in). The Thick-billed Miner has gray-brown upperparts with a broad buffy-white superciliary and a medium length stout bill. The underparts are unmarked brownish-gray. The webbing on the wing and tail are rufous, which is readily seen when the bird is in flight. It forages on the ground in sparse montane scrub interspersed with rocks and boulders. It is distinguished from the similar Slender-billed Miner by a shorter, thicker and more-straight bill. The also similar Common Miner has dusky streaking on the breast.

Status: Endemic. The Thick-billed Miner is uncommon on the west slope of the Andes at elevations ranging between 1900-3400 m. It also occurs, as a disjunct population, in Lomas habitats in Central Peru at an average elevation of 500 m.

Name in Spanish: Minero de Pico Grueso.

Sub-species: Thick-billed Miner (Geositta crassirostris crassirostris), P. L. Sclater, 1866.  coastal hills of W Peru (Lima).
(Geositta crassirostris fortis), Berlepsch and Stolzmann, 1901.  Andes of SW Peru (Lima S to Arequipa).

Meaning of Name: Geositta: Gr. geo= ground and genus Sitta, Linnaeus, 1758, nuthatch. One that looks like a (ground) nuthatch. crassirostris: L. crassus= thick, heavy and rostris, rostrum= billed, beak.

See more of the Family Furnariidae