Short-billed Miner

SCI Name:  Geositta antarctica
Protonym:  Geositta antarctica Arch.Naturgesch. 46 p.274 pl.12
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Furnariidae / Geositta
Taxonomy Code:  shbmin1
Type Locality:  Tierra del Fuego.
Author:  Landbeck
Publish Year:  1880
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

GEOSITTA
(Furnariidae; † Common Miner G. cunicularia fissirostris) Gr. γεω- geō-  ground-, earth-  < γη gē  earth; genus Sitta Linnaeus, 1758, nuthatch; the terrestrial Common Miner was classified with the nuthatches, subfamily Sittinae, by Swainson 1837, because of its straight bill, short tail, and long hind-toe with a curved, lengthened claw; "GEOSITTA, Sw.  (fig. 283.)   Bill longer than the head, trigonal at the base, cylindrical beyond. Culmen rounded. The tip of the upper mandible entire, broader than high, and slightly bent over the lower. Wings long, pointed; the first quill nearly equal to the second and third, which are longest; tertials lengthened. Tail slightly forked. Feet slender. Anterior toes rather short; the lateral ones unequal, the claws small; hind toe as long as the middle toe, but shorter than the tarsus; the claw much lengthened, and slightly curved.  Chili.   G. anthoïdes.  Part 5. No. 129." (Swainson 1837 (Classif. Birds)); "129. GEOSITTA anthoïdes.  ...  Inhabits Chili." (Swainson 1837 (Anim. Menag.)); "Geositta SWAINSON, Classif. Birds, 2, p. 317, 1837— generic characters only; type by subs. desig. (SWAINSON, Anim. Menag., p. 323, Dec. 1837) Geositta anthoides SWAINSON = Alauda fissirostris KITTLITZ." (Hellmayr, 1925, Cat. Birds Americas, Pt. IV, 2); "Geositta Swainson, Classif. Bds., 2, 1837, p. 317, fig. 283.  Type, by monotypy, Geositta anthoides, Part 5, No. 129 = Alauda fissirostris Kittlitz." (Peters, 1951, VII, p. 58).  Fjeldså, Christidis & Ericson (eds.) 2020, treat this genus, together with Sclerurus, in the family Scleruridae.
Var. Geocitta.
Synon. Geobamon, Geobates.

antarctica / antarcticus
L. antarcticus  southern, antarctic  < Gr. ανταρκτικος antarktikos  antarctic  < αντι anti  opposite; αρκτος arktos  north.
● Tierra del Fuego; ex “Antarctic Goose” of Latham 1785 (syn. Chloephaga hybrida).
● Antarctic Ocean; ex “Procellaria glacialis, var. β” of Latham 1790 (syn. Fulmarus glacialoides).
● "The vast Island or rather Continent of Australia, Australasia, or New Holland ... Antarctic Pigeon ... Its most distinguishing character is the elegant semi-pendent occipital crest" (Shaw 1794) (Lopholaimus).
● Falklands Is., New Zealand and New Holland; ex “Statenland Eagle” of Latham 1781 (syn. Phalcoboenus australis).
● Within the Antarctic Circle between lat. 36º S and 61º S; ex “Petrel brun et blanc” of de Bougainville 1771, “Antarctic Peteril” of Cook 1777, and Latham 1785, and “Pétrel Antarctique” or “Damier brun” of de Buffon 1770-1783 (Thalassoica).