Asthenes vilcabambae
The Vilcabamba Thistletail (Asthenes vilcabambae) is a diminutive and enigmatic furnariid, measuring approximately 14-15 cm (5.5-5.9 inches) in length and weighing around 10-15 grams. Its plumage is generally dull olive-brown to grayish-brown above and below, but a striking rufous-chestnut wash on its lower flanks and undertail coverts serves as a key identifying feature. Its most distinctive characteristic, which gives it its common name, is a long, graduated, stiff, and spiny tail. This sle...
Found exclusively in high-elevation montane scrub and *Polylepis* woodlands, often near the treeline, at elevations typically between 2,700 and 3,600 meters (8,850-11,800 feet).
Feeds primarily on arthropods, including insects and spiders, which it gleans from bark, foliage, and mosses.
This restless and active bird typically forages individually or in pairs, occasionally joining mixed-species flocks. It employs an acrobatic foraging strategy, actively gleaning arthropods from the bark, foliage, and mosses of *Polylepis* trees, often creeping along trunks or hitching up branches...
The Vilcabamba Thistletail is a highly localized and resident species, found exclusively within a very restricted range in the Vilcabamba mountain range of south-central Peru. Its distribution spans parts of the Cusco and ApurÃmac departments. This non-migratory bird inhabits a narrow elevational...
Vulnerable
- The 'Thistletail' name refers to its stiff, pointed tail feathers, an adaptation often seen in birds that forage on vertical surfaces or in dense undergrowth. - It is an obligate specialist of the *Polylepis* woodlands, a unique high-altitude tree genus found only in the Andes, making its survi...