About Chilia melanura (G.R.Gray, 1846)
The crag chilia (Chilia melanura, also referred to as O. melanurus in subspecific naming) is 18 to 19 cm (7.1 to 7.5 in) long and weighs 31 to 40 g (1.1 to 1.4 oz). Adults of the nominate subspecies O. m. melanurus have a narrow whitish supercilium, dark brown lores and auriculars, and whitish cheeks. Their upperparts are mostly darkish brown with a rufous rump and uppertail coverts. Their tail is mostly blackish brown with some rufous at the base and the outer web of the outermost pair of feathers. Their upperwing coverts are dusky brown, and their wings are darkish brown with a wide rufous band. Their throat is whitish, their breast dull smoky grayish, their belly dull brown, and their flanks and undertail coverts rufous. Their iris is brown, their maxilla blackish, their mandible pale gray with a blackish tip, and their legs and feet blackish. Juveniles have pale edges on their back feathers and faint barring on their underparts. Subspecies O. m. atacamae is paler and sandier than the nominate subspecies, with a whiter, more distinct supercilium, grayish brown upperwing coverts, pale grayish breast with white streaks, pale brown flanks, and a shorter and narrower bill. The crag chilia is endemic to north-central and central Chile. Subspecies O. m. atacamae occurs from Huasco Province in the Atacama Region to the Coquimbo Region, while O. m. melanurus is found further south, between San Felipe de Aconcagua Province in the Valparaíso Region and Colchagua Province in the O'Higgins Region. This species inhabits arid scrublands, including shrubby rock hillsides and cliffs with sparse vegetation. There is no scientific consensus on its elevational range. In the non-breeding season, it occurs as low as sea level. During the breeding season, different sources place its upper elevation limit between 2,200 and 3,000 m (7,200 and 9,800 ft).
