Short-billed canastero facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Short-billed canastero
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Furnariidae
Genus:	Asthenes
Species:	A. baeri
Binomial name
Asthenes baeri (Berlepsch, 1906)
Subspecies
See text
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The short-billed canastero (Asthenes baeri) is a small bird that belongs to the ovenbird family called Furnariidae. You can find this bird in several South American countries, including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

About This Bird

What's in a Name?

Scientists like to organize living things into groups. This is called taxonomy. For the short-billed canastero, there are a few different ideas about how to group its types.

Some experts, like the International Ornithological Committee (IOC), say there are three main types, or subspecies:

• A. b. baeri
• A. b. chacoensis
• A. b. neiffi

However, another group, the Clements taxonomy, thinks A. b. neiffi is just a slightly different version of chacoensis. For this article, we'll follow the idea that there are three types.

What Does It Look Like?

The short-billed canastero is about 14 to 15 cm (5.5 to 5.9 in) long. That's about the length of a pen! It weighs between 10 to 18 g (0.35 to 0.63 oz), which is very light.

This bird has a short, thick beak. Both male and female birds look the same. They have a dull grayish-brown face with a light gray stripe above their eye. Their back is a bit grayer brown, and their tail feathers are gray with a brown tint.

Their wings are mostly dull grayish-brown. The tail feathers are dark brownish, but the outer ones are a dull reddish-brown. Their chin is pale gray, and their upper throat has a bright orange-tan patch. The rest of their belly is pale dull gray.

Their eyes are brown, and their beak is dark gray or black on top and lighter gray or pinkish on the bottom. Their legs and feet are gray. Young birds don't have much of the orange-tan color on their throat.

Where Does It Live?

The different types of short-billed canasteros live in different areas:

• The A. b. baeri type lives in southern Bolivia, western Paraguay, central Argentina, a tiny part of southeastern Brazil, and western Uruguay.
• The A. b. chacoensis type is found in extreme south-central Bolivia and northwestern Paraguay.
• The A. b. neiffi type lives in western Argentina.

These birds like dry, low-lying areas. You can find them in scrublands, woodlands, and the Gran Chaco region. They live from sea level up to about 1,300 m (4,300 ft) high.

Behavior

Movement

The short-billed canastero stays in the same area all year round. It doesn't migrate to other places.

What Does It Eat?

This bird eats many different kinds of arthropods, which are creatures like insects and spiders. It usually looks for food alone or in pairs. It finds its prey by picking it off low plants and sometimes from the ground.

Reproduction and Life Cycle

Short-billed canasteros breed during the spring and summer in the Southern Hemisphere, usually from October to January. They are thought to stay with one partner for life.

They build a special oval-shaped nest from spiny branches. These nests can be up to 35 cm (14 in) wide and 20 cm (8 in) tall. They place their nests about 1 to 3 m (3 to 10 ft) high in a tree or bush. The nest has an entrance at the top, which leads to a tunnel, and then to the main nest chamber. This chamber is lined with soft materials like feathers, hair, and moss.

A female bird usually lays three eggs, but sometimes she can lay as many as five. The eggs hatch after about 14 to 15.5 days. The young birds are ready to leave the nest about 14 days after they hatch.

What Does It Sound Like?

The short-billed canastero's song is a fast, high-pitched sound that speeds up and ends in a trill. It sounds like "seep seep seepseepseep..." Sometimes, it skips the first few notes. It also makes short, buzzing "pzzz" sounds.

Status

The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) has listed the short-billed canastero as a species of Least Concern. This means that even though its population might be getting smaller, it's not currently in danger of disappearing.

It lives across a very large area, and while we don't know exactly how many there are, they are considered uncommon to fairly common. They also live in several protected areas. However, their habitat is sometimes affected by human activity and grazing animals.