Coastal Miner

About the Coastal Miner

The coastal miner (Geositta peruviana) is a species of bird in the subfamily Sclerurinae, the leaftossers and miners, of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is endemic to Peru. The coastal miner has three subspecies, the nominate G. p. peruviana Lafresnaye, 1847, G. p. paytae Ménégaux & Hellmayr, 1906, and G. p. rostrata Stolzmann, 1926.

Among the members of genus Geositta the coastal miner is most closely related to the common miner (G. cunicularia) and slender-billed miner (G. tenuirostris). The coastal miner is a small member of its genus. It is 12 to 14.5 cm (4.7 to 5.7 in) long and weighs 16 to 19 g (0.56 to 0.67 oz). The sexes are alike. The nominate subspecies has pale brown upperparts with slightly paler uppertail coverts; the other two subspecies are a lighter pale sandy brown above. Their central pair of tail feathers are brown and sandy brown respectively. In all subspecies the next three pairs are black with narrow creamy white tips, the next pair are mostly blackish brown, and the outermost pair have a creamy white outer web and a pale rufous inner web with a dark band near the creamy tip. Their flight feathers are mostly... Wikipedia →