The least seedsnipe (''Thinocorus rumicivorus'') is a xerophilic species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

in the

Thinocoridae The seedsnipes are a small family, Thinocoridae, of small gregarious waders which have adapted to a herbivorous diet. The family is divided into two genera, ''Attagis'' and ''Thinocorus'', each containing two species. The family has a South Am ...

family. It breeds in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, Bolivia,

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

, and

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

. They are common across South America and have been recorded in

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

, the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouze ...

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, and as far away as

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

.Favero, M., & Silva, M. P. (1998). First Record of the Least Seedsnipe Thinocorus rumicivorus in the Antarctic. Ornitologia Neotropical, 10, 107-109. The range of the least seedsnipe is estimated to be about 1,300,000 km². Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s are temperate

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses ( Poaceae). However, sedge ( Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur na ...

, subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland, and pastureland, but it can be found in habitats ranging from sandy beaches to the open steppe, and even some open deserts in northern Chile.Lane A. A. (1897) Field notes on the birds of Chili. Ibis 3, 297-3 17.Ehlers, R., and M. L. Morton (1982). Metabolic rate and evaporative water loss in the Least Seed-Snipe Thinocorus rumicivorus. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 73A:233–235.

Etymology

The least seedsnipe was described in 1829 by

Eschscholtz Johann Friedrich Gustav von Eschscholtz (1 November 1793 – 7 May 1831)Sterling (1997) was a Baltic German physician, naturalist, and entomologist. He was one of the earliest scientific explorers of the Pacific region, making significant colle ...

. The genus name comes from the Greek ''thin''-, ''thinos''- (θινος) 'sand'or 'desert' and Latin 'corys' (from Greek κορυδος) 'lark'. The species name comes from Latin rumicis “sorrel” and vorā “eater”.

Taxonomy

There are three subspecies of the least seedsnipe: *''T. r. cuneicauda'', ( Peale, 1848): southwest

& coastal

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

*''T. r. bolivianus'', ( Lowe, 1921): southern

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

, western Bolivia, northern

& northwestern

*''T. r. rumicivorus'', (

, 1829):

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and g ...

Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of the Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main island, Isla ...

Description

The least seedsnipe is the smallest member of the

family.Castro, F., J. Castro, A. R. Ferreira, M. A. Crozariol, and A. C. Lees (2012). A first documented Brazilian record of Least Seedsnipe Thinocorus rumicivorus Eschscholtz, 1829 (Thinocoridae). Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia 20:455–457. They have short tails and long pointed wings. Their legs and toes are a dull greenish yellow. The beak of the least seedsnipe is an ashy color and is conical like that of a finch or a sand grouse.Grant, C. H. (1911). List of Birds collected in Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, and Southern Brazil, with Field‐notes. Ibis, 53(3), 459-478. Adult males have a gray face, neck, and breast, and have black lines at the center of the throat that form an inverted “T” shape. The eyes are a dark gray color.

Behavior

Male seedsnipe will commonly perch on a prominent bush or fence post to deliver nuptial calls that sound like a series of a “rapid pu-pu-pu-pu-pu”s, very similar to that of the

Common Snipe The common snipe (''Gallinago gallinago'') is a small, stocky wader native to the Old World. The breeding habitats are marshes, bogs, tundra and wet meadows throughout the Palearctic. In the north, the distribution limit extends from Iceland ov ...

. Seedsnipes are well-adapted to arid environments and show no increases in water loss between 20 and 36 °C. The

thermoneutral zone Endothermic organisms known as homeotherms maintain internal temperatures with minimal metabolic regulation within a range of ambient temperatures called the thermal neutral zone (TNZ). Within the TNZ the basal rate of heat production is equal to ...

extends from 33 to 38 °C in this species, but they have the capacity to dissipate heat through evaporative water loss up to 42 °C. Their metabolic rate is 38% lower than other non-passerine birds of similar body mass (~50 g), reducing the contribution to the total heat budget.

Nesting

Only the female incubates the eggs. The average clutch size of the least seedsnipe is four eggs laid in a simple nest scrape, which the female buries using her feet (rather than her bill, as is seen in some African Charadrii) whenever she leaves the nest. If loose, dry plant material is available, she will use this to cover the hatchlings until her return. This behavior appears to have arisen independently in

. The primary purpose for nest covering in ''Thinocorus rumicivorus'' is most likely concealment from predators, but

thermoregulation Thermoregulation is the ability of an organism to keep its body temperature within certain boundaries, even when the surrounding temperature is very different. A thermoconforming organism, by contrast, simply adopts the surrounding temperature ...

probably also plays a factor.

Diet

As the common name suggests, least seedsnipes rely mostly on seeds, but they will also eat leaves and buds and as such are strictly vegetarian in their natural habitat. However, in captivity they have been known to eat mealworms. Unlike most

Charadriiformes Charadriiformes (, from ''Charadrius'', the type genus of family Charadriidae) is a diverse order of small to medium-large birds. It includes about 390 species and has members in all parts of the world. Most charadriiform birds live near water an ...

, least seedsnipes possess a

crop A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. When the plants of the same kind are cultivated at one place on a large scale, it is called a crop. Most crops are cultivated in agriculture or hydropon ...

, a

gizzard The gizzard, also referred to as the ventriculus, gastric mill, and gigerium, is an organ found in the digestive tract of some animals, including archosaurs (pterosaurs, crocodiles, alligators, dinosaurs, birds), earthworms, some gastropods, so ...

and long intestinal caeca. They have been observed foraging from a crouched position, rapidly snapping off plants and swallowing the fragments whole. They also stretch to bite off the top of grasses and tall herbs and are well-suited to browsing. They derive most if not all of their water needs from succulent plants and are only very rarely seen drinking water. They visit the beds of '' Calceolaria uniflora'' (Scrophularaceae) and feed on the fleshy growths on the lower lips of the flower and in the process transfer pollen across flowers.

Status and conservation

This species has an extremely large range and is one of the most common birds of southern Patagonia. According to the IUCN, the population appears stable. It has therefore been labeled as species of

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

References

External links

Image at ADW
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1259564 least seedsnipe Birds of Ecuador Birds of Peru Birds of the Bolivian Andes Birds of the Southern Andes Birds of Chile Birds of Patagonia Birds of Tierra del Fuego least seedsnipe Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz