About Asthenes baeri (Berlepsch, 1906)
The short-billed canastero (scientific name Asthenes baeri (Berlepsch, 1906)) measures 14 to 15 cm (5.5 to 5.9 in) long and weighs 10 to 18 g (0.35 to 0.63 oz). It has a short, thick bill, and resembles the wholly unrelated little thornbird (Phacellodomus sibilatrix) more than it resembles other canasteros. Males and females have identical plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies have an indistinct wide grayish supercilium on an otherwise dull grayish brown face. Their crown is dull gray-brown, their back is a slightly grayer brown, and their rump and uppertail coverts are gray with a brown tinge. Their wings are mostly dull grayish brown, with paler gray edges on the coverts and flight feathers. Of the feathers on their tail, the innermost two pairs are mostly dark brownish fuscous, and the rest are mostly dull rufous. Their chin is pale grayish, their upper throat is orange-tawny with a darker lower margin, and their lower throat, breast, and belly are pale dull grayish. Their flanks and undertail coverts are pale rufescent. Their iris is brown to grayish brown, their maxilla is black to dark gray or dark brown, their mandible is gray to pinkish gray, and their legs and feet are gray to brownish gray. Juveniles have little to no orange-tawny on the throat and a mottled upper breast. Subspecies A. b. chacoensis is very slightly paler than the nominate subspecies, and has a whiter supercilium and more rufous coloration on the tail. Subspecies A. b. neiffi is significantly larger than the other two subspecies, but differs very little in plumage from A. b. chacoensis. The nominate subspecies of the short-billed canastero is distributed across southern Bolivia, western Paraguay, central Argentina, extreme southeastern Brazil, and western Uruguay. Subspecies A. b. chacoensis occurs in extreme south-central Bolivia and northwestern Paraguay. Subspecies A. b. neiffi is found in western Argentina. The species inhabits arid lowland scrublands, Gran Chaco scrub and woodlands, and woodlands of the Monte Desert. Its elevation range extends from sea level to 1,300 m (4,300 ft).
