Cinclodes is a genus of passerine birds belonging to the ovenbird family Furnariidae. There are about a dozen species distributed across the southern and Andean regions of South America. They are terrestrial birds of open habitats, typically found near water such as mountain streams or the seashore where they forage for small invertebrates. They are stocky birds with strong legs and feet and pointed, slightly downcurved bills. The plumage is inconspicuous and mainly brown, often with a pale wingbar, stripe over the eye and corners to the tail. They have loud, trilling songs and often raise their wings while singing.
Taxonomy
The genus Cinclodes was introduced in 1840 by the English zoologist George Robert Gray. The name combines the Ancient Greek kinklos, a word for an unknown waterside bird, with -oidēs meaning "resembling". In 1855 Gray specified the type species as the dark-bellied cinclodes, a species that had been described in 1889 by Gmelin under the binomial name Motacilla patagonica.
The genus contains 15 extant species:
Image
Common name
Scientific name
Distribution
Long-tailed cinclodes
Cinclodes pabsti
southern Atlantic Forest and Espinhaço Mountains
Blackish cinclodes
Cinclodes antarcticus
Falkland Islands and Tierra del Fuego
Buff-winged cinclodes
Cinclodes fuscus
southern Cone
Cordoba cinclodes
Cinclodes comechingonus
Sierras de Córdoba
Chestnut-winged cinclodes
Cinclodes albidiventris
northern Andes
Cream-winged cinclodes
Cinclodes albiventris
puna grassland
Olrog's cinclodes
Cinclodes olrogi
Sierras de Córdoba
Grey-flanked cinclodes
Cinclodes oustaleti
Chile
Stout-billed cinclodes
Cinclodes excelsior
northern Andes
Royal cinclodes
Cinclodes aricomae
southern Peru and western Bolivia
White-bellied cinclodes
Cinclodes palliatus
central Peru
White-winged cinclodes
Cinclodes atacamensis
puna grassland and Sierras de Córdoba
Dark-bellied cinclodes
Cinclodes patagonicus
Chile
Peruvian seaside...