Observations on Two Rare Birds, Upucerthia albigula and Conirostrum tamarugense, from the Andes of Southwestern Peru

Abstract

Upucerthia albigula is known only from the western slopes of the Andes in southern Peru and northern Chile. The northernmost previous record for this earthcreeper was the city of Arequipa, Dpto. Arequipa, ca. 375 km southeast of the Nazca-Puquio road (O'Neill 1969). U. albigula is quite rare in collections. I know of only 14 specimens, 13 study skins and one alcoholic. These, from north to south, are: PERU: LSUMZ 114110, discussed above; American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) 802288, 2.5 miles N of Arequipa, Dpto. Arequipa (elevation?), unsexed (alcoholic specimen made into a skin), 31 August 1962; LSUMZ 34624, female, 20 km by road E Arequipa, Dpto. Arequipa, 2,625 m, 11 November 1964; LSUMZ 82743, male, 35 km by road E Arequipa, Dpto. Arequipa, 3,150 m, 27 October 1976; LSUMZ 120744, unsexed alcoholic specimen, 35 km by road E Arequipa, Dpto. Arequipa, 3,425 m, 2 September 1984; LSUMZ 119178, sex?, 35 km by road E Arequipa, Dpto. Arequipa, 3,425 m, 3 September 1984; LSUMZ 78262, male, 20 km by road E Chiguata, Dpto. Arequipa, 3,900 m (this specimen probably collected at a lower elevation, closer to 3,000 m, fide T. A. Parker, III, pers. comm.), 15 June 1975; Museum of Vertebrate Zoology (MVZ) 125208, female, Arequipa, Dpto. Arequipa, 3,500 m (by the elevation given, I presume this specimen also was collected along the road E Chiguata), 22 December 1951; Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg (Frankfurt, W. Germany) 37531, female, Palca, Dpto. Tacna, 3,000 m, 18 October 1902 (paratype); CHILE: Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH) 61094, male, Putre, Prov. Arica, 3,550 m, 7 July 1924 (holotype); FMNH 61091, female, Putre, Prov. Arica, 3,550 m, 15 June 1924 (paratype); Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ) 287707, male, Putre, Prov. Arica, 3,500 m, 7 November 1943; MCZ 287708, male, Putre, Prov. Arica, 3,500 m, 7 November 1943; AMNH 80722, unsexed, near Valparaiso (locality presumed to be incorrect, specimen probably from Dpto. Tacna [Hellmayr 1932:170]), June 1885 (paratype). Except for LSUMZ 114110, all LSUMZ specimens were collected east of Arequipa, both above and below the village of Chiguata. Here U. albigula is largely if not entirely restricted to ravines, where the density of shrubs is considerably greater than on surrounding plains or slopes. Cactus is present in these ravines but is not as conspicuous as at the Ayacucho locality. Characteristic birds of these ravines include Leptasthenura striata, Asthenes dorbignyi, Anairetes flavirostris, and Sicalis olivascens.