About Schizoeaca fuliginosa (Lafresnaye, 1843)
The white-chinned thistlettail, with the scientific name Schizoeaca fuliginosa (Lafresnaye, 1843), measures 18 to 20 cm (7.1 to 7.9 in) in length and weighs 14 to 20 g (0.49 to 0.71 oz). It is the largest thistletail species. Males and females share the same plumage pattern. Adults of the nominate subspecies A. f. fuliginosa have a faint grayish-tawny supercilium and a whitish eyering, set against an otherwise blackish to dark brown face. Their crown, back, rump, and tail are dark reddish brown, and their wings are a brighter shade of reddish brown. The species has a long, deeply forked tail; the feather ends have few barbs, which gives the tail a ragged appearance. The chin is whitish, while the throat and the rest of the underparts are grayish, with a brownish tinge on the flanks. The iris color is highly variable; the maxilla is black to dark gray, the mandible is dark with a pinkish to whitish base, and the legs and feet are blue-gray to gray. Other subspecies of the white-chinned thistletail differ from the nominate primarily in upperpart coloration. Subspecies A. f. fumigata has a darker back and browner underparts than the nominate. A. f. peruviana has duller upperparts than the nominate, along with a darker chin, little to no eyering, and a gray or blue-gray mandible. A. f. plengei has redder upperparts and tail than the nominate, plus a longer and whiter supercilium, and a dark gray lower throat marked with whitish streaks. Each subspecies of the white-chinned thistletail has a distinct distribution: A. f. fuliginosa is found in Venezuela's Táchira state, Colombia's Eastern Andes, and the Andes of Ecuador as far south as Pichincha Province on the western slope and Morona-Santiago Province on the eastern slope; A. f. fumigata is found in Colombia's Central Andes between the departments of Caldas and Nariño; A. f. peruviana is found in the Andes of northern Peru's Amazonas Department; A. f. plengei is found in the Andes of central Peru between the departments of San Martín and Pasco. The white-chinned thistletail lives in páramo grasslands, elfin forest, the upper edge of cloudforest, and dense undergrowth at the tree line. It is also found locally in Polylepis woodland. Its elevation range is generally 2,800 to 4,000 m (9,200 to 13,100 ft); it occurs below 3,500 m (11,500 ft) in Ecuador, and reaches as low as 2,400 m (7,900 ft) in Colombia.
