Birds of Argentina of stable or accidental presence in danger: the Black Remolinera.

Until recently, the Black Remolinera (Cinclodes antarcticus) was considered as a species that inhabited the Falkland Islands, Tierra del Fuego and adjacent Argentine islands, Cape Horn and Fuegian islands of Chile, with two distinct subspecies.

• C. a. antarcticus for Islas Malvinas and 
• C. a. maculirostris for Tierra del Fuego, islands and islets of the Beagle Channel and Island of the States of Argentina and south of the Beagle Channel to Cape Horn including the Wollaston archipelago, and the Fueguian islands of Chile.

Birds of Argentina of stable or accidental presence in danger: the Black Remolinera.

The black remolinera is between 18 and 23 cm long. In both sexes the plumage is predominantly dark brown.

Your throat is slightly lighter with some cream specks.

It has a tenuous superciliary list and a diffuse reddish band on its wings. Its beak is quite long, robust and slightly curved downwards with a yellow point at its base (which does not appear in the Malvinas variety).

Introduction.

Practically nothing is known about the reproduction of the Black Remolinera.
It is assumed that most aspects of the life of this species are presumably similar to those of the Malvinera Remolinera.

Prefers rocky beaches and adjacent shoreline, especially with accumulations of tussok grasses (known as Tussacbird in the Falklands)

Habitat.

In Rio Grande, Tierra del Fuego and Chile reproduce in inaccessible places and deep cracks of the rocky coast.

Its diet consists mainly of small invertebrates but also consumes regurgitated fish that gets in the colonies of seabirds, some waste from the surroundings of human settlements and bits of carrion. It usually searches for its food among the algae washed up to the coast and the edge of the waters.

Like other cinchlodes, the Black Whirlpool forages on the ground, scavenging under algae, and can be very docile.

At present, the Black Whirlpool (C. maculirostris) is considered a separate species of Malvinera Remolinera (C. antarcticus) for deferring in its blackest coloration, lack of rufo on the wing, yellow base of the beak, shorter beak and tail longer, being this monotypic and inhabiting rocky coasts, especially in the vicinity of colonies of mammals and seabirds.

Biometrics.

Length: 19-20 cm

Birds of Argentina of stable or accidental presence in danger: the Black Remolinera.Click to Tweet

The adult of the nominate race has uniformly dark sooty brown plumage, except the slightly paler throat and some dull rufous on bases of flight feathers.

The bill is blackish. The eyes are dark brown. Legs and feet are blackish.

Both sexes are similar and the juvenile resembles adults.

The breeding season lasts from September to December, and they often raise two clutches.

Behaviour in the wild.

The Blackish Cinclodes feeds mainly on invertebrates such as arthropods, marine invertebrates, Diptera and their larvae, and Orthoptera.

This species is more omnivorous in Falklands were it forages among the floating rotting kelps or in tussac grass. It feeds on cracked eggs of Spheniscidae, and also takes regurgitated food and excreta from seals and seabirds.

Read also: The Lihue Calel Nature Reserve is an authentic oasis that holds many surprises in terms of fauna.

It forages alone or in pairs, gleaning food on beaches. It probes in kelp debris to reach invertebrates. It may leap upwards to catch flies from the air.

In the area of the Les Éclaireurs Lighthouse, he approaches the boats in search of fresh water.

Reproduction oh this species.

The breeding season takes place during the austral spring/summer.

In Falkland Islands, eggs are recorded in October, and a second brood may occur in December.
The Blackish Cinclodes nests in tunnel in a bank facing the sea, or in hole or rock crevice in rocky coasts, in boulders or old building, a hole in a log, an old burrow abandoned by other bird species, or under dense vegetation.

The nest is at the end of the tunnel. The nest-chamber is lined with dried grass, root fibres and feathers. Other materials can be added through the nesting period.


The female lays 2-3 eggs and the incubation lasts two weeks. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge about 25 days after hatching.

This species can produce two broods per season.

Its nest is bowl-shaped and is built with grass and lined with feathers, which it places under rocks, tufts of grass in holes in the ground or in buildings.

Conservation.

Conservation status

Near Threatened (IUCN 3.1)