Seedsnipes | Thinocoridae

Kwartelsnippen | Agachonas | Seedsnipes

Three of the family's four species occur in this guide, in two genera: the Rufous-bellied Seedsnipe on rocky slopes and in cushion bogs high in the Andes, often just below the snowline, the Grey-breasted Seedsnipe in the grasslands and peat bogs of the puna, and the Least Seedsnipe, which besides the high plateau also lives in the coastal desert of Peru and the dry southwest of Ecuador. Seedsnipes are relatives of the waders that, with their compact body, short legs and short, conical bill, look like a partridge or quail. Unlike almost all other waders they are vegetarian: they eat buds, leaves and seeds and obtain much of their water from that food. The nostrils are covered by a horny flap. The plumage is a finely scaled pattern of brown, grey and black that is hard to see on the ground; when threatened they crouch and only fly up at the last moment, with a fast, zigzag flight and a grating call. The nest is a scrape in the ground, usually with four eggs, which the bird may cover with soil when it leaves the nest.