The crag chilia (''Ochetorhynchus melanurus'') is a 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 lightweigh ...

in the family Furnariidae (ovenbirds). It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

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 ...

.Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ Retrieved August 15, 2019

Taxonomy and systematics

The crag chilia was formerly placed in its own genus, ''Chilia''. It is now placed in genus ''Ochetorhynchus'' with the straight-billed earthcreeper (''O. ruficaudus'') and band-tailed earthcreeper (''O. phoenicurus''). Two subspecies are recognized, ''O. m. melanurus'' and ''O. m. atacamae''.Remsen, Jr., J. V. (2020). Crag Chilia (Ochetorhynchus melanurus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D.A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.crachi1.01

Description

The crag chilia weighs from and is in length. ''O. m. melanurus'' is dark brown above with a rufous rump and flanks, grayish breast, and brown belly. ''O. m. atacamae'' is similarly colored but paler overall.

Distribution and habitat

The crag chilia is endemic to central and north-central Chile between approximately 27° and 35° south latitudes. It is found primarily at elevations from but also at lower elevations in winter. Subspecies ''O. m. melanurus'' is found in the southern part of its range and ''O. m. atacamae'' is in the north. It is found on shrubby rock hillsides and cliffs with sparse vegetation.

Behavior and ecology

The crag chilia's diet is predominantly arthropods but also includes seeds. It is usually a solitary forager that gleans from rocks and probes crevices. The species is presumed to be monogamous and its nesting season to be the austral spring and summer. The nest is a bulky ball of sticks lined with feathers and is usually placed in a rock cavity, though some have been found in holes in earth banks and rural buildings.

Status

The crag chilia is considered of least concern by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

. Though it has a restricted range, its habitat is rather remote and therefore not heavily disturbed by humans.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1274466

crag chilia The crag chilia (''Ochetorhynchus melanurus'') is a species of bird in the family Furnariidae (ovenbirds). It is endemic to Chile.Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood ...

Birds of Chile Endemic birds of Chile

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot