{{Short description|Genus of birds}}{{More citations needed|date=March 2026}}{{Automatic taxobox | name = Canasteros | image = Asthenes modesta Cordilleran canastero.jpg| | image_caption = Cordilleran canastero (''Asthenes modesta'') | taxon = Asthenes | authority = Reichenbach, 1853 | type_species = ''Synallaxis sordida''<br/>Sharp-billed canastero | type_species_authority = Lesson, 1839 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = see text | synonyms = * ''Schizoeaca'' Cabanis, 1853 * ''Astheres'' Bonaparte, 1854 * ''Oreophylax'' Hellmayr, 1925 | synonyms_ref = <ref name="IRMNG" /><ref name="Derryberryetal2010" /> }}
'''Canasteros''' and '''thistletails''' are small passerine birds of South America belonging to the genus '''''Asthenes'''''. The name "canastero" comes from Spanish and means "basket-maker", referring to the large, domed nests these species make of sticks or grass. They inhabit shrublands and grasslands in temperate climates from the lowlands to the highlands. They feed on insects and other invertebrates gleaned from the ground or the low vegetation.
== Taxonomy== The genus ''Asthenes'' was introduced in 1853 by the German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Reichenbach | first=Ludwig | author-link=Ludwig Reichenbach | year=1853 | chapter=Icones ad synopsin avium No. 10 Scansoriae A | title=Handbuch der speciellen Ornithologie | language=German | location=Dresden und Leipzig | publisher=Expedition Vollständigsten Naturgeschichte | pages=145–218 [146, 168] | chapter-url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47722870 }}</ref> The name is from Ancient Greek ''asthenēs'' meaning "insignificant".<ref>{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | page=57 }}</ref> The type species was designated by George Robert Gray in 1855 as ''Synallaxis sordida'' Lesson.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Gray | first=George Robert | author-link=George Robert Gray | year=1855 | title=Catalogue of the Genera and Subgenera of Birds Contained in the British Museum | location=London | publisher=British Museum | page=27 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/17136647 }}</ref><ref>{{ cite book | editor-last=Peters | editor-first=James Lee | editor-link=James L. Peters | year=1951 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=7 | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | location=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=103 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14480440 }}</ref> This taxon is now considered to be a subspecies of the sharp-billed canastero (''Asthenes pyrrholeuca sordida'').<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen | date=January 2021 | title=Ovenbirds, woodcreepers | work=IOC World Bird List Version 11.1 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/ovenbirds/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | accessdate=29 June 2021 }}</ref>
In 2010, it was discovered that the thistletails and the Itatiaia spinetail, formerly placed in their own genera (''Schizoeaca'' and ''Oreophylax'', respectively), are actually part of a rapid radiation of long-tailed ''Asthenes''.<ref name="Derryberryetal2010" /> At the same time, four species, the cactus, dusky-tailed, Steinbach's and Patagonian canasteros, were split off into the new genus ''Pseudasthenes''.<ref name="Derryberryetal2010" />
===Species=== The genus contains 29 species:<ref name=ioc/>
{| class="wikitable" |- ! Image !! Scientific name !! Common name !! Distribution |- | 125px ||Pale-tailed canastero|| ''Asthenes huancavelicae''|| Peru |- | 125px ||Dark-winged canastero|| ''Asthenes arequipae''|| Puna grassland |- | 125px ||Rusty-vented canastero|| ''Asthenes dorbignyi''|| southern Peru |- | - ||Berlepsch's canastero|| ''Asthenes berlepschi''|| western Bolivia |- | 125px ||Short-billed canastero|| ''Asthenes baeri''|| Argentina, western Paraguay and Uruguay |- | 125px ||Cipo canastero|| ''Asthenes luizae''|| Serra do Cipó |- | 125px ||Hudson's canastero|| ''Asthenes hudsoni''|| Argentina and Uruguay |- | 125px ||Austral canastero|| ''Asthenes anthoides''|| western Patagonia and Los Lagos Region |- | 125px ||Line-fronted canastero|| ''Asthenes urubambensis''|| Peru and Bolivia |- | 125px ||Many-striped canastero|| ''Asthenes flammulata''|| northern Andes |- | 125px ||Junin canastero|| ''Asthenes virgata''|| central Peru |- | 125px ||Scribble-tailed canastero|| ''Asthenes maculicauda''|| central Andes |- | 125px ||Streak-backed canastero|| ''Asthenes wyatti''|| Ecuador, Puna grassland and Sierras de Córdoba |- | 125px ||Streak-throated canastero|| ''Asthenes humilis''|| Puna grassland |- | 125px ||Cordilleran canastero|| ''Asthenes modesta''|| Puna grassland, Patagonia and Sierras de Córdoba |- | 125px ||Itatiaia spinetail|| ''Asthenes moreirae''|| Itatiaia National Park and nearby massifs |- | 125px ||Sharp-billed canastero|| ''Asthenes pyrrholeuca''|| southern Cone |- | - ||Black-throated thistletail|| ''Asthenes harterti''|| Bolivian Andes |- | 125px ||Puna thistletail|| ''Asthenes helleri''|| southeastern Peru |- | - ||Vilcabamba thistletail|| ''Asthenes vilcabambae''|| central Peru |- | - ||Ayacucho thistletail|| ''Asthenes ayacuchensis''|| central Peru |- | 125px ||Canyon canastero|| ''Asthenes pudibunda''|| Peru |- | 125px ||Rusty-fronted canastero|| ''Asthenes ottonis''|| Bolivia and northern Argentina |- | 125px ||Maquis canastero|| ''Asthenes heterura''|| Puna grassland |- | 125px ||Eye-ringed thistletail|| ''Asthenes palpebralis''|| central Peru |- | - ||Ochre-browed thistletail|| ''Asthenes coryi''|| Cordillera de Merida |- | 125px ||Perija thistletail|| ''Asthenes perijana''|| Serranía del Perijá |- | 125px ||White-chinned thistletail|| ''Asthenes fuliginosa''|| northern Andes |- | 125px ||Mouse-colored thistletail|| ''Asthenes griseomurina''|| southern Ecuador and northern Peru |- |}
==Description== They are typically {{convert|15|–|18|cm|in|lk=on}} long and slim with long tails and thin, pointed bills. They are mostly dull and brown in colour but vary in tail pattern and presence of streaking. They have trilling songs.
==Distribution and habitat== Most species occur in open country, including mesic to arid scrublands and grasslands. Some species inhabit dry forests. Only three species are migratory.<ref name="Claramuntetal2022">{{cite journal |author1=Claramunt, Santiago |author2=Aldabe, Joaquín |author3=Etchevers, Ismael |author4=Di Giacomo, Adrián S. |author5=Kopuchián, Cecilia |author6= Milensky, Christopher M. |year=2022 |title= Distribution, migratory behavior, and conservation of Hudson's Canastero ''Asthenes hudsoni'' (Furnariidae): a grassland specialist from the humid Pampas |journal= Avian Conservation and Ecology |volume=17 |issue=1 |doi=10.5751/ACE-02152-170125 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
==References== <references>
<ref name="Derryberryetal2010">{{cite journal |author1=Derryberry, Elizabeth |author2=Claramunt, Santiago |author3=O’Quin, Kelly E. |author4=Aleixo, Alexandre |author5=Chesser, R. Terry |author6=Remsen, J.V. |author7=Brumfield, Robb T. |year=2010 |title=''Pseudasthenes'', a new genus of ovenbird (Aves: Passeriformes: Furnariidae) |journal=Zootaxa |volume=2416 |pages=61–68 |doi=10.11646/zootaxa.2416.1.4 |url=http://www.museum.lsu.edu/brumfield/pubs/pseudasthenes.pdf |access-date=2011-11-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100627083048/http://www.museum.lsu.edu/brumfield/pubs/pseudasthenes.pdf |archive-date=2010-06-27 |url-status=dead }}</ref> <ref name="IRMNG">{{IRMNG | 1378261 | ''Asthenes'' Reichenbach, 1853 | 2019-08-14}}</ref>
</references>
== Further reading == *Jaramillo, Alvaro; Burke, Peter & Beadle, David (2003) ''Field Guide to the Birds of Chile'', Christopher Helm, London *South American Classification Committee (2007) ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20070625182022/http://www.museum.lsu.edu/~remsen/SACCBaseline06.html A classification of the bird species of South America, part 6]''. Retrieved 17/07/07.
{{Passeriformes|T.|state=collapsed}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q655569}}
Category:Asthenes Category:Birds of South America Category:Taxa named by Ludwig Reichenbach
{{Furnariidae-stub}}