Buff-breasted Earthcreeper

The buff-breasted earthcreeper (Upucerthia validirostris) is a species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru. == Taxonomy and systematics == The buff-breasted earthcreeper has three subspecies, the nominate U. v. validirostris (Burmeister, 1861), U. v. saturata (Carriker, 1933), and U. v. jelskii (Cabanis, 1874). Before a 2013 publication, the buff-breasted earthcreeper was credited with an additional subspecies, and U. v. jelskii was treated as a separate species, the "plain-breasted" earthcreeper, with U. v. saturata as a subspecies of it. The paper resulted in the "collapse" of the two species with five subspecies into the current one-species, three-subspecies, model. Some authors suggest that further study is needed. == Description == The buff-breasted earthcreeper is 17 to 21 cm (6.7 to 8.3 in) long and weighs 30 to 45 g (1.1 to 1.6 oz). It is a medium-sized earthcreeper with a long and strongly decurved bill. The sexes' plumages are alike. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a pale buffish white supercilium. Their crown, nape, back, rump, and uppertail coverts are dull brownish gray. Their tail is dark brown with increasing amounts of rufous from the central to the…