Upucerthia

Upucerthia is a genus of bird in the family Furnariidae. Established by French zoologist Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire in 1832, it contains four species known as earthcreepers.^[2] Genetic studies done in the early 2000s indicated that the genus as it stood at that time was highly polyphyletic, with species representing four distinct clades.^[3] As a result, a total of five former species were moved to other genera. The rock earthcreeper and the straight-billed earthcreeper were moved to the genus Ochetorhynchus.^[2][3][4] The Bolivian earthcreeper and the Chaco earthcreeper were moved to the genus Tarphonomus,^[2][3][5] and the striated earthcreeper was moved into the monotypic genus Geocerthia.^[2][3]

The genus name is a portmanteau of the genus names Upupa (for the hoopoes) and Certhia (for the treecreepers).^[6]

The following are species recognized by the International Ornithologists' Union as being members of this genus.^[2]

• Scale-throated earthcreeper (Upucerthia dumetaria)
• Patagonian forest earthcreeper (Upucerthia saturatior)
• White-throated earthcreeper (Upucerthia albigula)
• Buff-breasted earthcreeper (Upucerthia validirostris)
  • Plain-breasted earthcreeper (Upucerthia validirostris jelskii)

The Patagonian forest earthcreeper, described as a distinct species in 1900 but soon lumped as a subspecies of the scale-throated earthcreeper, was designated as a distinct species again in the early 2000s. This determination was based on differences in its morphology, song, breeding habitat, and migration patterns.^[7]