Wren-like Rushbird (Phleocryptes melanops)

Identification & Behavior: ~13.5 cm (5.2 in). The Wren-like Rushbird has the back and tail with an intricate pattern of shades of rufous, brown, gray, and blackish streaks and spots. It has a buffy supercilium. The wing feathers are gray with a broad rufous median band visible when the bird flies. The underparts are brownish. It inhabits and forages exclusively in stands of cattail (Typha spp) and rushes (Scirpus spp). It is superficially similar to a juvenile Many-colored Rush-Tyrant, which is also restricted to the same habitat type.

Status: The Wren-like Rushbird is common at the appropriate habitats along the coast and also local at high Andean lakes at elevations of up to 4200 m. It also occurs in Br, Bo, and Ch.

Name in Spanish: Junquero or Totorero.

Sub-species: Wren-like Rushbird (Phleocryptes melanops brunnescens), J. T. Zimmer, 1935.  coastal W Peru (La Libertad S to Ica).
(Phleocryptes melanops schoenobaenus), Cabanis and Heine, 1859.  C & S Peru (L Junín area in Andes of Junín, Altiplano region of Puno), W Bolivia (La Paz S to Oruro) and NW Argentina (Jujuy).
(Phleocryptes melanops loaensis), R. A. Philippi B. and Goodall, 1946.  coastal S Peru (Arequipa) and N Chile (Tarapacá).

Meaning of Name: Phleocryptes: Gr. phleos= reed and krupto, kruptes= to hide, hider. melanops: Gr. melas, melanos= black and ops, opos= face.

See more of the Family Furnariidae