More Córdoba's ovenbirds

During my last trip to Córdoba, central Argentina, Jorge (avespampa.com.ar) showed me both endemic and widespread bird species.  I already talked about most of the endemic ovenbirds we saw (read this post).  About the widespread species... well, I was impressed by the number of furnariids (ovenbirds) that form part of the common Córdoba's avifauna.  I have to say that I really liked this scene.

This is the nest of one of the most common furnariid around Córdoba, the Rufous Hornero.  It looks exactly like the traditional ovens still in use in some parts of interior Panamá... and certainly in other parts of the world.  I took this photo of Gloriela and Gabrielle (then a 3 months-old baby) next to an oven in a little town close to Penonomé (central Panamá).

Amazing!  Now the name makes sense, since there are no horneros in Panamá.  In fact, there are almost no furnariids at all in central Panamá where I'm used to bird... well, not until the woodcreepers were included within the furnariids.  Yes... officially, the woodcreepers ARE ovenbirds, like this Narrow-billed Woodcreeper that we saw in chaco habitat close to the town of Quilino.

Certainly it looks pretty similar to some woodcreepers of the same genus here in Panamá.  But to be honest, I don't feel well naming these birds ovenbirds...; the tit-spinetails, on the other hand, is another story.  We saw two species: a Brown-capped Tit-Spinetail in Pampa de Achala and a group of Tufted Tit-Spinetails near Quilino.

In spite that ALL of the ovenbirds I saw were lifers for me, most of them belong to widespread groups. What I mean is that I've seen horneros, tit-spinetails, canasteros and cinclodes in other parts of South America.  That's why for me it was a great satisfaction to see members of completely new groups for me, like the Brown Cacholote (sorry, no photo)... and also unique ovenbirds with no obvious close relatives and absolutely GREAT names, like Firewood-gatherer and Lark-like Brushrunner.

Come on!  The brushrunner certainly was the most weird and spectacular ovenbird in the surroundings.  I dreamed of seeing this bird long before landing in Argentina... and I have to admit that at some point in the day I thought I would not see it; but Jorge always reassured me saying that this species was common, that it was only a matter of time, that this bird is peri-domiciliary.  By the end of the day, we headed to Quilino and then Jorge pointed them to me, yelling "Crestudos", it spanish name.  A group of four brushrunners were right by the road, close to a house as he predicted.  Some stayed in the ground, others flew to a nearby tree.  The Lark-like Brushrunner was the last lifer for the day... what a great lifer!

P.D.: I mentioned that the brushrunner was the last lifer of the day... but not THE bird of the day... that title belongs to an endemic... stay tuned for details!

One day, MANY endemics!

Did I mention that Jorge and I saw some national endemics while birding the Sierras Grandes west of Córdoba (central Argentina)?  In my previous post, I pictured the Carbonated Sierra-Finch which is an Argentina endemic with a quite large distribution within the country.  Beside the sierra-finch, we found other three (3!) national endemics that day in Pampa de Achala.  The first one was a species that, like the sierra-finch, also has a large distribution within the boundaries of Argentina: the Cinnamon Warbling-Finch.

We saw a male mixed with Rufous-collared Sparrows as you can see in the photo.  There are some autumn and winter reports from Uruguay, but that seems to be a rare vagrancy pattern.  In contrast, the next species (and subspecies) are completely restricted to these plateau.  Jorge took me to the banks of the Yuspe river and waited.  Soon, one of our first targets showed up as expected by Jorge:

Previously considered a subspecies of a more widely distributed species, the Olrog's Cinclodes is essentially restricted to Pampa de Achala.  Notice the conspicuous white in the closed wing, the bicolored eyebrow and the short, thin bill.

We walked a little bit, finding another Olrog's Cinclodes, this time accompanied by a Common Miner... also an endemic subspecies (contrerasi) for these sierras.  The spanish name of "caminera" refers to the habit of walking that these birds exhibit.

After a while, we found other furnariid sharing the same riverine habitat: a White-winged Cinclodes.  Compared to Olrog's Cinclodes, notice the obvious longer bill, the striking white bar in the closed wings, and the darker look overall.  This is also an endemic subspecies, schocolatinus, looking quite different to the geographically distant nominate.

With our targets in the bag, we moved to the highest part of the road reached that day, the Cuchilla Nevada, well over the 1800 meters above sea level.  No water up there, only arid grassy and shrubby pampa with rocky stands.  Now, we were after other endemic, the third cinclodes species for the day.  We did several stops in apparently suitable sites... then, the bird materialized in front of us.

That's right: Cordoba Cinclodes!  Just with the name you can assume that this is a range-restricted endemic (even with its Latin name: Cinclodes comechingonus).  Notice the rufous wing band.  My  next photo shows the yellow base to the lower mandible... but that was not very evident in the field.

By that time, I was more than happy... but Jorge had another surprise for me.  We stopped at a different type of habitat... this time less rocky and more shrubby.  Some playback and then a Puna Canastero hopped into evidence atop a shrub.  This species was first described from these sierras, and some think that the other subspecies described later don't belong to this species... some even call this bird "Cordoba" Canastero.

That was really a great day... full of endemics and distinct forms.  As bonus, we visited the shores of the San Roque lake, in the Punilla valley, finding the forth species of cinclodes for the day: two Buff-winged Cinclodes.

Formerly part of the Bar-winged Cinclodes complex, this partially migratory species is restricted to the south cone of the continent... so it was a lifer for me!  Four Cinclodes in one day, all of them lifers for me... amazing!  But the lifers festival don't stop here... stay tuned for more!

Córdoba, in the heart of Argentina

The city of Cordoba, the second in importance of Argentina, lies in the geographical center of this south-american country, and is rich in history and culture.  Founded in 1573 by Jerónimo Luis de Cabrera in lands inhabited by the Comechingones people, the city is proud of its inheritance, colonial and modern history and economic growth.

I had the great pleasure to visit this city recently in the frame of the Argentine Congress of Gastroenterology and Digestive Endoscopy to attend the Course of Gastroenterology and Digestive Endoscopy for Young Gastroenterologist.  At least one -young- gastroenterologist of each LatinAmerican country participated in this rather intensive course: Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, República Dominicana, Colombia, Ecuador, Perú, Brasil, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina and, of course, Panamá.

The young gastroenterologists with their professors

Besides the academic experience, what I really appreciated was the cultural experience.  Think about it: so may different cultures sharing tales and celebrating the differences.  Saying this, I have to admit that I really enjoyed dinner time my friends!

1905 Postal card

Our hosts planned everything to make us feel like home, and it was a complete success!  About the touristic itinerary, first of all, the hotel where we were staying was right in the historic center of the city, just steps away of the Jesuitic block and the San Martín Plaza.  In fact, they planned a short city tour to this plaza where some of us learned a lot about the first years of the city and many other things.  The architecture around the plaza is mostly colonial, as you can see in the photos... but there are some other styles mixed, as you can see in the cathedral.

Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de Asunción (Iglesia Catedral) in the San Martin Plaza

What a great experience!  Cordoba is a great city, and the cordobeses are great hosts!

Some of my companions had free extra days to explore other touristic regions of Argentina, like Buenos Aires, Bariloche and so on..., that was not my case; instead, I had enough spare time to explore the natural beauties around the city... as you will see in my next posts, so stay tuned!