Buff-breasted Earthcreeper Upucerthia validirostris
(aka Plain-breasted Earthcreeper Upucerthia jelskii)

Chilean name: Bandurilla de la Puna

Plain-breasted Earthcreeper, Putre, Chile, February 2007 - click for larger image Putre, Chile
February 2007

The Buff-breasted Earthcreeper is distributed in the Andes of central and southern Peru, western Bolivia, northern Chile and north-west Argentina. See the distribution map at Birdlife International. It is found in a variety of habitats in the altiplano including dry ravines and rocky slopes above puna grassland an bofedale bog.
Plain-breasted Earthcreeper, Putre, Chile, February 2007 - click for larger image Some authorities split this species into Buff-breasted Earthcreeper Upucerthia validirostris and Plain-breasted Earthcreeper Upucerthia jelskii but the HBW and Birdlife International checklist lumps them following a detailed review.
Plain-breasted Earthcreeper, Putre, Chile, February 2007 - click for larger image Upperparts are generally brown with rufous on the wings and tail. It has a weak, buffy supercilium which helps to distinguish it from White-throated Earthcreeper U. albigula which has a more contrasting whiter supercilium. Underparts are buffy but the lighter throat is not clearly demarcated. It uses its long decurved bill to probe the loose soil in search of its beetles and insect larvae.
Plain-breasted Earthcreeper, Putre, Chile, February 2007 - click for larger image
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