The driest place in the world lies along the west coast of South America in northern Chile.

This is the Atacama Desert, a 1,000-mile-long stretch of desolate, otherworldly landscapes.

The average rainfall here is about 0.6 inches, or just 15 millimeters per year.

But some parts of the Atacama Desert have gone for centuries with no record of rain.

What is this place like?

Imagine the whisper of wind blowing over barren rocky slopes and across salt flats.

In the distance are towering rock formations with layers in hues of rust red, pink and yellow.

On the horizon are cone-shaped volcanic peaks, dusted with snow.

The sun blazes overhead in a sterile dome of deep blue sky.

Living things are scarce in the Atacama Desert. It's too dry for most plants and animals, and the temperatures are too extreme.

And yet, there's at least one bird that calls this place home. It's the grayish

minor, geocita maritimea. This small ground-dwelling songbird has a short, straight bill.

As the name suggests, the grayish miner has gray plumage with hints of brown, buff, and

sandy cream.

It has no bold markings of any kind.

The grayish miner is a drab little beast, but its coloration helps it blend in with the rocks and sand

of its desert habitat. This species and the ten other species of minor composed the genus

geocita. They're all in the family, Fernariadi. Fernariadi, known as the oven bird and

wood creeper family, is an enormous group of neotropical

birds found all across Latin America.

So these birds are called miners.

If you're listening in Australia, maybe you're thinking, oh, minors, yeah, we've got those down

...