Correndera Pipit

The correndera pipit is 14 to 16 cm (5.5 to 6.3 in) long and weighs about 15 to 26 g (0.53 to 0.92 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a dusky head with a whitish supercilium, a whitish eye-ring, a thin blackish "moustache", and a blackish streak on the cheek. Their upperparts are dusky with heavy cinnamon-buff streaks and a white streak on each shoulder. Their wings are dusky with white edges on the primaries and buffy white edges on the coverts; the latter show as two wing bars. Their tail is mostly dusky with much white to whitish on the outer two pairs of feathers. Their throat and underparts are buffy white to whitish with large dark spots across the breast and black streaks on the flanks. All subspecies have a dark iris, a dark maxilla, a dark mandible with a paler base, and brown to pinkish brown legs and feet. The other subspecies of the correndera pipit differ from the nominate and each other thus:

A. c. calcaratus: much darker than nominate, with cinnamon tinge on the upperparts, a rufous rump, and buff underparts A. c. chilensis: darker and more buffy upperparts than nominate, with pale buff streaks on the mantle, a rufous tinge on the rump, white only on the outermost pair of tail feathers, and thinner streaks on the breast that extend onto the upper belly A. c. …

The subspecies of the correndera pipit are found thus:

A. c. calcaratus: central Peru from southeastern Ancash and western Huánuco south to western Junín; southern Peru in southeastern Cuzco and central Puno A. c. correndera: Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul in far southern Brazil, southern Paraguay, Uruguay, and northern Argentina (but see below) A. c. catamarcae: northern Chile's Antofagasta Region, southwestern Bolivia, and northwestern Argentina's Catamarca Province A. c. chilensis: from Chile's Atacama Region east across Argentina and south in both countries to Tierra del Fuego A. c. grayi: the Falkland Islands The South American Classification Committee lists the correndera pipit as a non-resident vagrant in Paraguay. The subspecies of the correndera pipit inhabit different landscapes. The nominate and A. c. calcaratus primarily are found in somewhat arid puna grassland and also in pastures, agricultural lands, bogs, and wet lakeshores. The nominate is often seen along grassy roadsides. In elevation they mostly range from 2,500 to 4,450 m (8,200 to 14,600 ft) but in Peru A. c. calcaratus reaches 4,600 m (15,100 ft). Subspecies A. c. catamarcae and A. c. chilensis inhabit the Patagonian steppe, grasslands, and the edges of wetlands from sea level to about 1,250 m (4,100 ft). A. c. grayi favors large tracts of coarse white grass in wet areas.

The correndera pipit's diet has not been detailed but is known to include larval and adult insects and other invertebrates; it probably includes seeds as well. It forages while walking and running on the ground.