''Cinclodes'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

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 th ...

birds 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 lightweig ...

belonging to the ovenbird family Furnariidae. There are about a dozen

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

distributed across the southern and

Andean The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S l ...

regions 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 souther ...

. They are terrestrial birds of open habitats, typically found near water such as mountain streams or the seashore where they forage for small

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. They are stocky birds with strong legs and feet and pointed, slightly downcurved bills. The

plumage Plumage ( "feather") is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, ...

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 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 broth ...

. The name combines the

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 p ...

''kinklos'', a word for an unknown waterside bird, with ''-oidēs'' meaning "resembling". In 1855 Gray specified 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( ...

as the

dark-bellied cinclodes The dark-bellied cinclodes (''Cinclodes patagonicus'') is a species of bird in the family Furnariidae. It is found in Argentina and Chile. Its natural habitats are rivers and rocky shores. The dark-bellied cinclodes is distributed in Chile from ...

, a species that had been described in 1889 by Gmelin under the

binomial name 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 ...

''Motacilla patagonica''. The genus contains 15 species: *

Stout-billed cinclodes The stout-billed cinclodes (''Cinclodes excelsior'') is a species of bird in the family Furnariidae. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland and subtropical or tropica ...

, ''Cinclodes excelsior'' *

Royal cinclodes The royal cinclodes (''Cinclodes aricomae'') is a passerine bird which breeds in the Andes of south-east Peru and adjacent Bolivia. It was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the stout-billed cinclodes ''C. excelsior''. It is 20 cm lo ...

, ''Cinclodes aricomae'' * Buff-winged cinclodes, ''Cinclodes fuscus'' * Chestnut-winged cinclodes, ''Cinclodes albidiventris'' (split from ''Cinclodes fuscus'' in 2012) * Cream-winged cinclodes, ''Cinclodes albiventris'' (split from ''Cinclodes fuscus'' in 2012) * Cordoba cinclodes or Comechingones cinclodes, ''Cinclodes comechingonus'' *

Long-tailed cinclodes The long-tailed cinclodes (''Cinclodes pabsti'') is a species of bird in the family Furnariidae. It is endemic to Brazil. Its natural habitats are temperate grassland and pastureland. Rarer than previously believed, it is uplisted from a specie ...

, ''Cinclodes pabsti'' *

Grey-flanked cinclodes The grey-flanked cinclodes (''Cinclodes oustaleti'') is a species of bird in the family Furnariidae.It is found in Chile, adjacent western Argentina and Tierra del Fuego. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland and s ...

, ''Cinclodes oustaleti'' * Olrog's cinclodes, ''Cinclodes olrogi'' *

Dark-bellied cinclodes The dark-bellied cinclodes (''Cinclodes patagonicus'') is a species of bird in the family Furnariidae. It is found in Argentina and Chile. Its natural habitats are rivers and rocky shores. The dark-bellied cinclodes is distributed in Chile from ...

, ''Cinclodes patagonicus'' *

Chilean seaside cinclodes The Chilean seaside cinclodes (''Cinclodes nigrofumosus'') is a species of bird in the family Furnariidae. It is endemic to rocky shorelines in Chile. Some authorities include the Peruvian seaside cinclodes as a subspecies while others list it ...

or seaside cinclodes, ''Cinclodes nigrofumosus'' *

Peruvian seaside cinclodes The Peruvian seaside cinclodes or surf cinclodes (''Cinclodes taczanowskii'') is a species of bird in the family Furnariidae. It is endemic to rocky shorelines in Peru. It is often considered a subspecies In biological classification, sub ...

or surf cinclodes, ''Cinclodes taczanowskii'' *

Blackish cinclodes The blackish cinclodes (''Cinclodes antarcticus'') is a passerine bird of the genus '' Cinclodes'' belonging to the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is native to the southern tip of South America including the Falkland Islands where it is kno ...

, ''Cinclodes antarcticus'' *

White-winged cinclodes The white-winged cinclodes (''Cinclodes atacamensis'') is a species of bird in the family Furnariidae. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland and rivers. Subspecies * ''Cinclodes atacamensis atacamensis'': Pun ...

, ''Cinclodes atacamensis'' *

White-bellied cinclodes The white-bellied cinclodes (''Cinclodes palliatus'') is a species of bird in the ovenbird family, Furnariidae. It is endemic to Peru where it inhabits high level, marshy grassland in the Junín Region and possibly also in the Huancavelica Regio ...

, ''Cinclodes palliatus''

References

* Chesser, R. Terry (2004
Systematics, evolution and biogeography of the South American ovenbird genus ''Cinclodes''
''Auk'' 121 (3): 752-766 * Jaramillo, Alvaro; Burke, Peter & Beadle, David (2003) ''Field Guide to the Birds of Chile'',

Christopher Helm Christopher Alexander Roger Helm (born Dundee, 1 February 1937 – 20 January 2007) was a Scottish book publisher, notably of ornithology related titles, including the ''Helm Identification Guides''. Born in Dundee, he was raised in Forfar, ...

, London Bird genera * Taxa named by George Robert Gray {{Furnariidae-stub