The straight-billed reedhaunter (''Limnoctites rectirostris'') is a

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Furnariidae.

Taxonomy

Formerly it was placed in ''Limnornis'' with the

curve-billed reedhaunter The curve-billed reedhaunter (''Limnornis curvirostris'') is a species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. Taxonomy and systematics The curve-billed reedhaunt ...

(''Limnornis curvirostris'') which lives in the same general region and

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

, and thus shares some

adaptation In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the p ...

s with ''L. rectirostris''. But ''L. rectirostris'' is closer to the typical spinetails ('' Cranioleuca'') than to the curve-billed reedhaunter, and is the

sister species In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and ...

of the

sulphur-bearded reedhaunter The sulphur-bearded reedhaunter or sulphur-throated spinetail (''Limnoctites sulphuriferus'') is a species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. Taxonomy and sy ...

Behaviour

As with many of its relatives, rather little is known about its reproductive habits. In southern Uruguay, a juvenile was observed in mid-January (i.e. midsummer).

Distribution and habitat

This bird is found in north-eastern

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, south-eastern

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

and

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

. In its range, it is essentially limited to marshy areas in

pampas The Pampas (; from Quechua 'plain'), also known as the Pampas Plain, are fertile South American low grasslands that cover more than and include the Argentine provinces of Buenos Aires, La Pampa, Santa Fe, Entre Ríos, and Córdoba; all o ...

and campos from coastal lowlands to highlands. In Brazil, it is found in

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, ; ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative units of Brazil#List, fifth-most populous state and the List of Brazilian s ...

and

Santa Catarina State Santa Catarina () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil. It is located in the centre of the country's Southern region. It is bordered to the north by the state of Paraná, to the south by the state of Rio Grande do Sul, to the east by t ...

s. In Argentina, it occurs in Entre Ríos and the extreme north-east of

Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires, officially the Buenos Aires Province, is the largest and most populous Provinces of Argentina, Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of the province an ...

s. In Uruguay, it is limited to the eastern and southern part of the country. In recent years, it has been recorded in Cerro Largo, Canelones, Maldonado – where

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

found it in 1833 at Laguna José Ignacio and Laguna del Diario, where it can still be found –,

Rocha Rocha may refer to: * Rocha (surname), a Portuguese surname * Rocha, Moca, Puerto Rico, a barrio in the municipality of Moca, Puerto Rico * Rocha, Rio de Janeiro, a neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil * Rocha, Uruguay, capital city of the R ...

, San José and

Treinta y Tres Department Treinta y Tres () is a department of Uruguay. Its capital is Treinta y Tres. It is located in the east of the country, bordering the departments of Cerro Largo to the north, Durazno and Florida to the west, Lavalleja and Rocha to the south, w ...

s (especially at the

Quebrada de los Cuervos The Quebrada de los Cuervos (Spanish language, Spanish for ''Crows Ravine'') is an important landform in Treinta y Tres Department, Uruguay. Crossed by the Yerbal Chico creek, it constitutes a natural protected area. This Important Bird Area (IBA) ...

). From

Lavalleja Department Lavalleja (; ) is a department of Uruguay. Its capital is Minas. It is located in the southeast of the country, bordered to the north by the department of Treinta y Tres to the east with Rocha, to the south with Canelones and Maldonado, and ...

, there are only records from 1994, but the bird probably is still found there. This species prefers

marsh In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in genera ...

y and

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

y areas between

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

and 1,100 m ASL. A key feature of prime habitat is an abundant growth of ''caraguata'' (spiny eryngos, ''

Eryngium ''Eryngium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apiaceae. There are about 250 species. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution, with centres of diversity in the western Mediterranean, South America and Mexico.Calviño, C.I., Martíne ...

'' spp.), such as ''E. pandanifolium'' which it utilizes particularly in upland localities. It is sometimes claimed that the two reedhaunters differ in

microhabitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

preference, occurring sympatrically in the same region but not within the same locality, but this seems to be incorrect.

Status and conservation

The straight-billed reedhaunter may be common in suitable habitat, but globally its numbers are decreasing and is becoming rare due to

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

. Significant threats are

pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause harm. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the component ...

and the draining of wetlands, particularly for construction on the outskirts of larger towns. Invasive

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions. Most species are known ...

s (''Salix'' spp.) as well as

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

s of

eucalypt Eucalypt is any woody plant with Capsule (fruit), capsule fruiting bodies belonging to one of seven closely related genera (of the tribe Eucalypteae) found across Australia: ''Eucalyptus'', ''Corymbia'', ''Angophora'', ''Stockwellia'', ''Allosyn ...

(''Eucalyptus'' spp.) and

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

(''Pinus'' spp.) are also detrimental to habitat quality. The species occurs in some

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...

s, such as Área Protegida Quebrada de los Cuervos in Uruguay's Treinta y Tres Department.Azpiroz & Menéndez (2008), BLI (2009)

Footnotes

References

* Accordi, Iury Almeida & Barcellos, André (2006): Composição da avifauna em oito áreas úmidas da Bacia Hidrográfica do Lago Guaíba, Rio Grande do Sul ird composition and conservation in eight wetlands of the hydrographic basin of Guaíba lake, State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil ''Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia'' 14 (2): 101-115 ortuguese with English abstractbr>PDf fulltext
* Azpiroz, Adrián B. & Menéndez, José L. (2008): Three new species and novel distributional data for birds in Uruguay. ''

Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club The ''Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club'' is an ornithology, ornithological scientific journal, journal published by the British Ornithologists' Club (BOC). It is citation, cited as ''Bull. B. O. C.'' Many descriptions of birds Bird sp ...

'' 128 (1): 38–56. * Bencke, Glayson Ariel (2007): Avifauna atual do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil: aspectos biogeográficos e distribucionais The Recent avifauna of Rio Grande do Sul: Biogeographical and distributional aspects" Talk held on 2007-JUN-22 at ''Quaternário do RS: integrando conhecimento'', Canoas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
PDF abstract
* Olson, Storrs L.; Irestedt, M.; Ericson, Per G.P. & Fjeldså, Jon (2005): Independent evolution of two Darwinian marsh-dwelling ovenbirds (Furnariidae: ''Limnornis, Limnoctites''). ''Ornitología Neotropical'' 16 (3): 347–359
PDF fulltext

External links

Photo
on

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{{Taxonbar, from=Q1038792 straight-billed reedhaunter Birds of Argentina Birds of the South Region Birds of Uruguay straight-billed reedhaunter straight-billed reedhaunter Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Birds of the Atlantic Forest