Canasteros and thistletails are 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 are distinguished from other orders of birds by t ...

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 ...

s of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

belonging to the genus ''Asthenes''. The name "canastero" comes from

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

and means "basket-maker", referring to the large, domed

nest A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold 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 organic materia ...

s these species make of sticks or grass. They inhabit

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It m ...

s and

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 natur ...

s in

temperate climate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...

s from the

lowland Upland and lowland are conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level. In studies of the ecology of freshwater rivers, habitats are classified as upland or lowland. Definitions Upland and lowland are portions of ...

s to the

highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

s. They feed on

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

s and other

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

s gleaned from the ground or the low vegetation.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Asthenes'' was introduced in 1853 by the German naturalist

Ludwig Reichenbach Heinrich Gottlieb Ludwig Reichenbach (8 January 1793 – 17 March 1879) was a German botanist and ornithologist. It was he who first requested Leopold Blaschka to make a set of glass marine invertebrate models for scientific education and museu ...

. The name is from

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

''asthenēs'' meaning "insignificant". The

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

was designated by

George Robert Gray George Robert Gray FRS (8 July 1808 – 6 May 1872) was an English zoologist and author, and head of the ornithological section of the British Museum, now the Natural History Museum, in London for forty-one years. He was the younger brother o ...

in 1855 as ''Synallaxis sordida''

Lesson A lesson or class is a structured period of time where learning is intended to occur. It involves one or more students (also called pupils or learners in some circumstances) being taught by a teacher or instructor. A lesson may be either one ...

. This taxon is now considered to be a

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

of the sharp-billed canastero (''Asthenes pyrrholeuca sordida''). In 2010, it was discovered that the thistletails and the Itatiaia spinetail, formerly placed in their own genera (''Schizoeaca'' and ''Oreophylax'', respectively), are actually part of a rapid radiation of long-tailed ''Asthenes''. At the same time, four species, the

cactus A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek ...

, dusky-tailed, Steinbach's and Patagonian canasteros, were split off into the new genus '' Pseudasthenes''.

Species

The genus contains 30 species: * Perijá thistletail (''Asthenes perijana'') * White-chinned thistletail (''Asthenes fuliginosa'') *

Vilcabamba thistletail The Vilcabamba thistletail (''Asthenes vilcabambae'') is a species of bird in the family Furnariidae. It is endemic to the Vilcabamba Mountains of Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forest and subtropical or ...

(''Asthenes vilcabambae'') * Ayacucho thistletail (''Asthenes ayacuchensis'') * Ochre-browed thistletail (''Asthenes coryi'') * Mouse-colored thistletail (''Asthenes griseomurina'') *

Eye-ringed thistletail The eye-ringed thistletail (''Asthenes palpebralis'') is a species of bird in the family Furnariidae. It is endemic to central Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland. References eye-ringed thistletail ...

(''Asthenes palpebralis'') *

Puna thistletail The puna thistletail (''Asthenes helleri'') is a species of bird in the family Furnariidae. It is found in Peru and Bolivia.Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2015. ''T ...

(''Asthenes helleri'') * Black-throated thistletail (''Asthenes harterti'') * Itatiaia spinetail (''Asthenes moreirae'') * Sharp-billed canastero (''Asthenes pyrrholeuca'') * Short-billed canastero (''Asthenes baeri'') * Canyon canastero (''Asthenes pudibunda'') * Rusty-fronted canastero (''Asthenes ottonis'') * Maquis canastero (''Asthenes heterura'') * Cordilleran canastero (''Asthenes modesta'') * Streak-throated canastero, (''Asthenes humilis'') * Rusty-vented canastero (''Asthenes dorbignyi'') *

Dark-winged canastero The dark-winged canastero, or Arequipa canastero, (''Asthenes arequipae'') is a species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family (biology), family Furnariidae. It is found in Bolivia, Chile, and Peru. Taxonomy and systemati ...

(''Asthenes arequipae'') * Pale-tailed canastero (''Asthenes huancavelicae'') * Berlepsch's canastero (''Asthenes berlepschi'') * Cipo canastero (''Asthenes luizae'') * Streak-backed canastero (''Asthenes wyatti'') * Puna canastero (''Asthenes sclateri'') *

Austral canastero The austral canastero (''Asthenes anthoides'') is a species of bird in the family Furnariidae, the ovenbird (family), ovenbirds. It is found in southern Argentina and Chile, including Tierra del Fuego. It is at least partially migratory, and its ...

(''Asthenes anthoides'') * Hudson's canastero (''Asthenes hudsoni'') * Line-fronted canastero (''Asthenes urubambensis'') * Many-striped canastero (''Asthenes flammulata'') * Junín canastero (''Asthenes virgata'') * Scribble-tailed canastero (''Asthenes maculicauda'')

Description

They are typically long and slim with long tails and thin, pointed bills. They are mostly dull and brown in colour but vary in tail pattern and presence of streaking. They have trilling

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

Distribution and habitat

Most species occur in open country, including mesic to arid

scrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, Herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or ...

s and

s. Some species inhabit

dry forest Dry or dryness most often refers to: * Lack of rainfall, which may refer to **Arid regions **Drought * Dry or dry area, relating to legal prohibition of selling, serving, or imbibing alcoholic beverages * Dry humor, deadpan * Dryness (medical) ...

s. Only three species are migratory.

References

*Jaramillo, Alvaro; Burke, Peter & Beadle, David (2003) ''Field Guide to the Birds of Chile'', Christopher Helm, London *South American Classification Committee (2007)
A classification of the bird species of South America, part 6
'. Retrieved 17/07/07. * Taxa named by Ludwig Reichenbach {{Furnariidae-stub