Des Murs's wiretail (''Sylviorthorhynchus desmurii'') is a small

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped') which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

of southern

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

which belongs to the

ovenbird The ovenbird (''Seiurus aurocapilla'') is a small songbird of the New World warbler family (biology), family (Parulidae). This bird migration, migratory bird breeds in eastern North America and winters in Central America, many List of Caribbean ...

family Furnariidae. Molecular phylogenetics places it within the Synallaxinae and indicates that the genus diverged from the '' Leptasthenura'' about 14-15 million years ago.

Taxonomy

Des Murs's wiretail was illustrated and given the

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...

''Sylviorthorhynchus desmurii'' by the French naturalist

Claude Gay Claude Gay, often named Claudio Gay in Spanish texts, (18 March 1800 – 29 November 1873), was a French botanist, naturalist and illustrator. This explorer carried out some of the first investigations about Chilean flora, fauna, geology and ge ...

in 1845. The specific epithet was chosen to honour the French ornithologist

Marc Athanase Parfait Œillet des Murs Marc Athanase Parfait Œillet des Murs (Paris, 18 April 1804 – Nogent-le-Rotrou, 25 February 1894), also known as Marc Oeillet des Murs, was a French amateur ornithologist and local politician and historian. Life Born to Jacques Philippe Ath ...

. The species is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

: no

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

are recognised.

Description

It is long, with the very long tail accounting for about two-thirds of this, but weighs as little as .Johnson, Alfredo William (author) and Goodall, J.D. (illustrator); ''The birds of Chile and adjacent regions of Argentina, Bolivia, and Peru'', Volume II; pp. 171-173. The tail consists of just six

feather Feathers are epidermal growths that form a distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on both avian (bird) and some non-avian dinosaurs and other archosaurs. They are the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates and an exa ...

s which are very narrow and filament-like: so few rectrices are elsewhere seen only in the

emu-wren The emu-wrens (''Stipiturus'') are a genus of passerine birds in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. They are found only in Australia, where they inhabit scrubland, scrub, heathland and grassland. They are small birds, 12–19 cm long w ...

s of Australia. The two central feathers are greatly elongated while the two outer feathers are very short. The plain

plumage Plumage () is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, there can b ...

is reddish-brown above, paler on the underparts. There is a pale stripe above the eye. The bird is small and rounded with a very fine

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Pl ...

. The

song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

is fast and high-pitched.

Distribution and habitat

It is found in western

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

from Santa Cruz Province north to

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

and in southern and central

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

from northern

Magallanes Magallanes may refer to: * Ferdinand Magellan (1480–1521), Portuguese explorer who led part of the first expedition around the world * Strait of Magellan, the strait between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, located in Chile Places * Magallanes ...

Valparaíso Region The Valparaíso Region (, ) is one of Chile's 16 Regions of Chile, first order administrative divisions.Valparaíso Region, 2006 With the country's second-highest population of 1,790,219 , and fourth-smallest area of , the region is Chile's sec ...

. It inhabits dense thickets of ''

Chusquea ''Chusquea'' is a genus of evergreen bamboos in the grass family. Most of them are native to mountain habitats in Latin America, from Mexico to southern Chile and Argentina. They are sometimes referred to as South American mountain bamboos. Unl ...

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

within cool

temperate rainforest Temperate rainforests are rainforests with coniferous or Broad-leaved tree, broadleaf forests that occur in the temperate zone and receive heavy rain. Temperate rainforests occur in oceanic moist regions around the world: the Pacific temperate ...

s, occurring from sea-level up to 1,200 metres, but also can occur in early-successional shrublands of highly shade-tolerant

Myrtaceae Myrtaceae (), the myrtle family, is a family of dicotyledonous plants placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtle, pōhutukawa, bay rum tree, clove, guava, acca (feijoa), allspice, and eucalyptus are some notable members of this group. All ...

species, chiefly ''

Amomyrtus ''Amomyrtus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae described as a genus in 1948. It is native to temperate southern South America, where it is distributed in Chile and Argentina.Arroyo, M. T. K. and A. M. Humaña. (1999) ...

''.Diáz, Iván A., Armesto, Juan J. and Willson, Mary F
“Mating success of the endemic Des Murs’ Wiretail (''Sylviorthorhynchus desmursii'', Furnariidae) in fragmented Chilean rainforests”
/ref> Des Murs's wiretail is also known to occur in dense

weed A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, growing where it conflicts with human preferences, needs, or goals.Harlan, J. R., & deWet, J. M. (1965). Some thoughts about weeds. ''Economic botany'', ''19''(1), 16-24. Pla ...

y thickets of plants like

gorse ''Ulex'' (commonly known as gorse, furze, or whin) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. The genus comprises about 20 species of thorny evergreen shrubs in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae. The species are na ...

over the northern extremity of its range. Even in undisturbed rainforests, however, wiretails use only the low-level shrub and bamboo layer for foraging, never flying higher than above the ground.

Behaviour and ecology

It is very shy and difficult to see, being completely unable to enter areas without dense vegetative overstoreys, and cannot typically use corridors smaller than or fly further than between patches of suitable habitat.Diáz, Iván A., Willson, Mary F., Gehee, Steven M.C. & Armesto, Juan J.
“Observaciones Sobre La Biologia y Conservación del Colilarga (Sylviorthorhynchus desmursii, Furnariidae) en la Isla de Chiloé, Chile”
When encountered Des Murs's wiretail can easily be mistaken for a

mouse A mouse (: mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus'' ...

. It has the unique ability among birds to curl up its long tail into a ball when alarmed. The ball-shaped

nest A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold Egg (biology), eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of ...

is made of plant fibres and built amongst vegetation close to the ground. Both partners are highly territorial with a territory size of around per pair; however, pairs in territories smaller than are seldom successful at nesting. This territory and the nest site are defended vigorously against conspecifics with a distinctive territorial song, and it is possible that the long tail is used by both sexes as an means of choosing a mate, though no actual tests have been used to determine how wiretails find a mate. As is typical for south temperate insectivorous birds, during the breeding season of October to February Des Murs's wiretail lays a clutch of two to four eggs, but for the bird's mass these are about the largest eggs of any passerine bird. At long and wide, they weigh twice as much as expected for a 10 gram passerineBased on the formula of egg mass = 0.258''m''^0.73, where ''m'' is body mass. From Rahn, H., Sotherland, P. and Paganelli, C. V., 1985. “Interrelationships between egg mass and adult body mass and metabolism among passerine birds” in ''Journal für Ornithologie'' 126:263-271. and a clutch of four weighs more than the adult female - a feat equalled only by much more fecund

kinglet A kinglet is a small bird in the family Regulidae. Species in this family were formerly classified with the Old World warblers. "Regulidae" is derived from the Latin word ''regulus'' for "petty king" or prince, and refers to the coloured crowns ...

s. Little is known about incubation, fledging periods, or postfledging parental care due to the very secretive nature of the species.

References

*Jaramillo, Alvaro; Burke, Peter & Beadle, David (2003) ''Field Guide to the Birds of Chile''. Christopher Helm, London.

External links

Des Murs's wiretail in IBC (Internet Bird Collection

Des Murs's wiretail sounds in Xenocanto
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1263434

Des Murs's wiretail Des Murs's wiretail (''Sylviorthorhynchus desmurii'') is a small passerine bird of southern South America which belongs to the ovenbird (family), ovenbird family Furnariidae. Molecular phylogenetics places it within the Synallaxinae and indicates ...

Birds of Chile

Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN