The rufous-bellied seedsnipe (''Attagis gayi'') is a

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 ...

suborder Order ( la, ordo) is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and ...

Scolopaci of order

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 ...

, the

shorebird 245px, A flock of Dunlins and Red knots">Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflat ...

s. It is found 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 , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

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 ...

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: ''Eku ...

, 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 = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The rufous-bellied seedsnipe shares its genus with the white-bellied seedsnipe (''A. malouinus''). They and the other two seedsnipes are closely related to the sandpipers of family

Scolopacidae Sandpipers are a large family, Scolopacidae, of waders. They include many species called sandpipers, as well as those called by names such as curlew and snipe. The majority of these species eat small invertebrates picked out of the mud or soil. ...

. It has three subspecies, the

nominate Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to a public office, or the bestowing of an honor or award. A collection of nominees narrowed from the full list of candidates is a short list. Political office In the ...

''A. g. gayi'', ''A. g. latrelillii'', and ''A. g. simonsi''. At least one publication has suggested that ''A. g. latrelillii'' might deserve to be recognized as a species. The rufous-bellied seedsnipe's

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

commemorates the French naturalist Claude Gay.

Description

The rufous-bellied seedsnipe is long and weighs about . The sexes are alike. The nominate subspecies' upperparts have an intricate scallop pattern of rufous-brown and blackish; its underparts are unmarked pale pinkish cinnamon. Subspecies ''A. g. latrelillii'' has a deeper rufous cinnamon than the nominate in its vent area and a scalloped breast. ''A. g. simonsi''s breast is a darker pinkish cinnamon than the nominate's; it is paler above with finer markings. Juveniles much resemble adults but with somewhat finer markings on their upperparts.Fjeldså, J. and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Rufous-bellied Seedsnipe (''Attagis gayi''), 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.rubsee2.01 retrieved December 6, 2022

Distribution and habitat

Subspecies ''A. g. latrelillii'' of rufous-bellied seedsnipe is found far from the other subspecies, on seven high volcanoes in north-central Ecuador. ''A. g. simonsi'' is found from central Peru south through northern Chile and western Bolivia into northwestern Argentina. The nominate ''A. g. gayi'' is found from north central Chile and west central Argentina south almost to

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 G ...

. The rufous-bellied seedsnipe inhabits alpine terrain in the Andes, often as high as the

snow line The climatic snow line is the boundary between a snow-covered and snow-free surface. The actual snow line may adjust seasonally, and be either significantly higher in elevation, or lower. The permanent snow line is the level above which snow wil ...

. It frequents boggy and other moist areas but also occurs in drier and rockier landscapes. Subspecies ''A. g. latrelillii'' is typically found in ''

páramo Páramo () can refer to a variety of alpine tundra ecosystems located in the Andes Mountain Range, South America. Some ecologists describe the páramo broadly as "all high, tropical, montane vegetation above the continuous timberline". A narrower ...

''. In the northern half of its range it mostly is found between . Further south it occurs down to and in the extreme south as low as .

Behavior

Movement

The rufous-bellied seedsnipe is essentially non-migratory, though southern populations are thought to move to lower elevation in the austral winter. It is a strong flier and when flushed flies in a fast zigzag.

Feeding

The rufous-bellied seedsnipe feeds on plant matter, typically in moist areas, but details of its diet are lacking.

Breeding

Little is known about the rufous-bellied seedsnipe's breeding biology. It lays eggs during September and October in Chile; further north the season extends to December. Its nest is a shallow scrape in the ground and the clutch size is typically four eggs.

Vocalization

The rufous-bellied seedsnipe frequently calls when flying and also while running; its call is "a melodic-sounding 'gly-gly-gly...' or 'cul-cul-cul...'" which several birds may make simultaneously.

Status

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 ...

has assessed the rufous-bellied seedsnipe as being of Least Concern. It has a very large range, and though its population size is not known it is believed to be stable. No immediate threats have been identified. It occurs in several protected areas and is considered generally fairly common except in Ecuador. However, it is persecuted in some mining areas.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1268282 rufous-bellied seedsnipe Birds of the Ecuadorian Andes Birds of the Puna grassland rufous-bellied seedsnipe Taxa named by Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire Taxa named by René Lesson