Biology:Attagis

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Short description: Genus of birds

Attagis
AttagisChimborazensisSmit.jpg
Scientific classification e
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Thinocoridae
Genus: Attagis
Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, I. & Lesson, RP, 1831
Type species
Attagis gayi[1]
I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire & Lesson, 1831
Species

Attagis is a genus of seedsnipe, a South American family of small gregarious waders which have adapted to a vegetarian diet.

These birds look superficially like partridges in structure and bill shape. They have short legs and long wings. Their 2-3 eggs are laid in a shallow scrape on the ground.

The genus was erected by the French ornithologists Isidore Saint-Hilaire and René Lesson in 1831 with the rufous-bellied seedsnipe (Attagis gayi) as the type species.[2][3] The name Attagis is the word used for a game bird in Ancient Greek texts. It probably referred to the black francolin (Francolinus francolinus).[4]

Species

The genus contains two species:[5]

Image Common Name Scientific name Distribution
Rufous-bellied Seedsnipe (Attagis gayi) - Papallacta - Ecuador.jpg Rufous-bellied seedsnipe Attagis gayi Andes of South America south from Ecuador.
White-bellied seedsnipe Attagis malouinus southwestern Argentina and Tierra del Fuego.

These are the larger of the four seedsnipe species.

References

  1. "Thinocoridae". The Trust for Avian Systematics. https://www.aviansystematics.org/4th-edition-checklist?viewfamilies=58. 
  2. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, Isidore; Lesson, René (1831) (in fr). Centurie Zoologique. pp. 130, 135. https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/28724675. 
  3. Peters, James Lee, ed (1934). Check-list of Birds of the World. 2. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 306. https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14483119. 
  4. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 60. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4. https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling. 
  5. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds (2019). "Grebes, flamingos, buttonquail, plovers, painted-snipes, jacanas, plains-wanderer, seedsnipes". World Bird List Version 9.2. International Ornithologists' Union. https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/grebes/. 
  • Shorebirds by Hayman, Marchant and Prater ISBN:0-395-60237-8

Wikidata ☰ Q2220919 entry