Dark-bellied Cinclodes
There are about twelve species of Cinclodes, all in South America. When they were first named they were placed in the Wagtail family (Motacilla) but they are not even closely related. They are in the suboscine passerine family that was an early offshoot from the true songbirds. They were placed in the genus Cinclodes by zoologist George Gray in 1840. The name means "resembling Cinclus", which was a tail-wagging water bird described by Aristotle, Aristophanes and others, but was never properly identified. Linnaeus used it for Dipper (Cinclus cinclus) in 1758, so it is likely that 82 years later Gray's Cinclodes meant Dipper-like. This Dark-bellied Cinclodes (Cinclodes patagonicus) was formally named in 1789 by the German Johann Gmelin as Motacilla patagonicus but he based his description on John Latham's 1783 description of "Patagonian Warbler". They are thrush-sized and within their limited range in southern South America they are never far from water. I photographed this one proudly strutting on seaside rocks at Ushuaia in southern Argentina. You would think that "Dark-bellied" is an odd name for a bird with such a striking head pattern, but most Cinclodes species have striking stripy heads so it is the more subtle distinguishing features that are used to name them.
Dark-bellied Cinclodes
There are about twelve species of Cinclodes, all in South America. When they were first named they were placed in the Wagtail family (Motacilla) but they are not even closely related. They are in the suboscine passerine family that was an early offshoot from the true songbirds. They were placed in the genus Cinclodes by zoologist George Gray in 1840. The name means "resembling Cinclus", which was a tail-wagging water bird described by Aristotle, Aristophanes and others, but was never properly identified. Linnaeus used it for Dipper (Cinclus cinclus) in 1758, so it is likely that 82 years later Gray's Cinclodes meant Dipper-like. This Dark-bellied Cinclodes (Cinclodes patagonicus) was formally named in 1789 by the German Johann Gmelin as Motacilla patagonicus but he based his description on John Latham's 1783 description of "Patagonian Warbler". They are thrush-sized and within their limited range in southern South America they are never far from water. I photographed this one proudly strutting on seaside rocks at Ushuaia in southern Argentina. You would think that "Dark-bellied" is an odd name for a bird with such a striking head pattern, but most Cinclodes species have striking stripy heads so it is the more subtle distinguishing features that are used to name them.