ANIMALS – BIRDS – SONGBIRDS – COMMON MINER (GEOSITTA CUNICULARIA)

Animals - Birds - Songbirds

Common miner (Geositta cunicularia)

Scientific Classification:

Kingdom : Animalia
Phylum : Chordata
Class : Aves
Order : Passeriformes
Family : Furnariidae
Genus : Geositta
Species : G. Cunicularia

Description:

The Common miner (Geositta cunicularia) is a passerine bird of South America, belonging to the ovenbird family. It is a ground-dwelling bird which feeds on insects and seeds. It has about 9 different subspecies, some of which may be better treated as separate species.

It is 14 to 16 cm long with a fairly long, slightly downcurved bill. The plumage varies geographically but is basically brown above and pale below with a streaked breast, pale stripe over the eye, dark edge to the ear-coverts and pale rufous bar across the wing. The tail is dark with a buff base and variable amounts of buff on the outer feathers. The trilling song is often given in flight and also varies geographically.

The species occurs in open habitats such as grassland, sand dunes and beaches from sea-level to high in the Andes. It is widespread and sometimes common across much of Chile, Argentina and Uruguay, parts of Peru and Bolivia and in southernmost Brazil. In winter there is some northward migration by southern birds with a few reaching Paraguay.

The bird lays two or three white eggs in a chamber at the end of a tunnel, up to 3 metres long, dug into an earth bank or sand dune.

Binomial Name:

Name : Geositta cunicularia
Taxonomist : Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot (Yvetot - France)
Year : 1816
Subspecies : None, or not data available
Synonyms : None, or not data available

Conservation Status by IUCN:

Status : Least Concern

Has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as evaluated but not qualified for any other category. As such they do not qualify as threatened, near threatened, or (prior to 2001) conservation dependent.

Philatelic Issues

2000 - Uruguay - Stamp 2 of 4, from Birds Series

Issue information:

Country: Uruguay
Date: September 27th, 2000
Printed: 25.000 Copies
Type: Stamp from Series of 4 Stamps
Value: UYP 4

Stamp: Rectangular
Size: 35 mm. x 22 mm.
Perforation: Circular
Gum: Water Activated