Attagis | |
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Scientific classification![]() | |
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 ofseedsnipe, aSouth American family of small gregariouswaders which have adapted to a vegetarian diet.
These birds look superficially likepartridges 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 ornithologistsIsidore Saint-Hilaire andRené Lesson in 1831 with therufous-bellied seedsnipe (Attagis gayi) as thetype species.[2][3] The nameAttagis is the word used for a game bird inAncient Greek texts. It probably referred to theblack francolin (Francolinus francolinus).[4]
The genus contains two species:[5]
Common name | Scientific name and subspecies | Range | Size and ecology | IUCN status and estimated population |
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Rufous-bellied seedsnipe | Attagis gayi Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, I & Lesson, RP, 1831 Three subspecies
| Andes of South America south from Ecuador.![]() | Size: Habitat: Diet: | LC |
White-bellied seedsnipe | Attagis malouinus (Boddaert, 1783) | southwestern Argentina and Tierra del Fuego.![]() | Size: Habitat: Diet: | LC |
These are the larger of the four seedsnipe species.