Blackish Cinclodes

The blackish cinclodes is 18 to 23 cm (7.1 to 9.1 in) long and weighs about 63 g (2.2 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies are mostly dark sooty brown, with a slightly paler throat and some dull rufous on the base of the flight feathers. The last is usually visible only in flight. Its iris is dark brown, its bill blackish, and its legs and feet blackish. Juveniles are generally browner than adults. Subspecies C. a. maculirostris is slightly larger than the nominate with a shorter bill and longer tail, and is blacker overall with a visibly yellowish base to its bill and no rufous on its wings.

The nominate subspecies of the blackish cinclodes is found on the Falkland Islands. Surveys through the late 1990s found them on 40 of the 59 islands studied. Subspecies C. a. maculirostris is found in southernmost mainland Chile, both Chilean and Argentine Tierra del Fuego, and other islands in the Cape Horn Archipelago. The blackish cinclodes is primarily coastal though it does range as far inland as 0.5 km (0.3 mi). It favors landscapes of short grass and tussoc (tussock) grass Poa flabellata, and is also common around human habitations. Both subspecies are often found on rocky beaches near colonies of marine mammals and seabirds. In elevation they range from sea level to about 200 m (700 ft).

The blackish cinclodes feeds mainly on small invertebrates such as amphipods, isopods, flies, and Orthoptera. Among seabird colonies it feeds on cracked eggs, scraps, and regurgitated matter, and also takes prey from excrement. It has also been documented feeding at wounds on southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) and sometimes enters houses to take food crumbs and scraps. On and near beaches it gleans and probes for prey, especially in floating and washed up kelp. It leaps up to capture flies in mid-air and follows humans along beaches to capture what they disturb.