| The Seedsnipes- Avian Family Thinocoridae: Charadriiformes | ||||||
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Systematics |
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The seedsnipes are a poorly know avian group from the Andes Mountains and Patagonia in South America. They are related to shorebirds, but lack the typical long bill, long legs, and strict aquatic 'wader' habits of other Charadriiformes. There are four species of seedsnipesin two genera, all highly adapted to arid, windy, cold, and alpine habitats. They may be found from sea level to upwards of 4,500 m. |
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Least seedsnipe (Thinocorus rumicivorus) female, brooding chicks in Tierra del Fuego (left). Grey-breasted seedsnipe (Thinocorus orbignyianus) female looking for succulent leaves in the dry salty banks of the Rio Putana, north of the Atacama Desert, Chile (below). |
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| Seedsnipes appear to be the only year-round, strictly vegetarian shorebirds, feeding on seeds, succulent leaves, flowers, and some berries. This diet may enable them to inhabit drier habitats, without the strict need for bodies of water, unlike other waders that feed on invertebrates. Seedsnipes have short extremities, perhaps another adaptation for surviving in their cold habitats. |  |
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Calceolaria uniflora, an example of mutalism and co-evolution. The white bodies produced by the flowers are food rewards eaten by seedsnipes, which cross-pollinate these flowers when pollen is deposited on their foreheads (Sersic & Cocucci 1996). |
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