Wren-like Rushbird (Phleocryptes melanops) [XC361136]
by Peter Boesman from Salta: La Lagunilla, Argentina (call)
Wren-like Rushbird (Phleocryptes melanops) [XC247795]
by Peter Boesman from Coya Sur, Chile (call)
Subspecies
Affinities uncertain. Possible relationship to Aphrastura suggested by plumage features, but nest architecture considered by some to be more like that of similarly marsh-nesting Limnoctites and Limnornis. The blue-green egg colour (unusual within family) more like latter's.
Proposed subspecies juninensis (from vicinity of L Junín, in central Peru), purportedly with brighter plumage, evidently not diagnosable.
The following 4 subspecies are recognised:
brunnescens Zimmer, JT, 1935 - Coastal western Peru (La Libertad south to Ica).
schoenobaenus Cabanis & Heine, 1860 - Central and southern Peru (L Junín area in Andes of Junín, Altiplano region of Puno), western Bolivia (La Paz south to Oruro) and north-western Argentina (Jujuy).
loaensis Philippi Bañados & Goodall, 1946 - Coastal southern Peru (Arequipa) and northern Chile (Tarapacá).
melanops (Vieillot, 1817) - Lowlands of south-eastern Brazil (Sío Paulo south to Rio Grande do Sul), Argentina (Tucumán east to Misiones, south to Chubut) and Chile (Atacama south to Aisén), but northern limits of breeding unclear. Also to western Paraguay in non-breeding season.