Rufous-fronted Thornbird
Phacellodomus rufifrons
A rather plain thornbird with a long tail and a dark gray eye. Nondescript; look for the brighter rufous forehead that contrasts with an otherwise plain olive-brown back and buff underparts. Found in open areas with scattered trees and savannas; avoids the forest interior. Tends to be very vocal, often singing a squeaky, chattering duet. Look for its enormous stick nests usually located in isolated trees where they hang suspended at the end of branches. Mainly occurs from Bolivia to eastern Brazil, with a disjunct population in northwestern Peru and extreme southern Ecuador.
Identification
The rufous-fronted thornbird is 16 to 17 cm (6.3 to 6.7 in) long and weighs about 18 to 31 g (0.63 to 1.1 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies P. r. rufifrons have a dull buff supercilium that continues past the eye, a dark brown stripe behind the eye, and dark grayish lores on an otherwise pale buff-brown face. Their forehead ("front") is dark rufous and their crown dark brownish with some paler streaks. Their upperparts are a slightly lighter dark brown. Their wings are mostly dull brown with darker brown primary coverts. Their tail is dull brown. Their underparts are mostly brownish white, with darker brownish sides, richer brownish flanks, and pale undertail coverts with a rufescent tinge. Their iris is brown to grayish white, their maxilla blackish to dark gray, their mandible gray to blue-gray, and their legs and feet gray. Juveniles do not have the rufous forehead and their underparts are mottled.<p>Subspecies P. r. sincipitalis is similar to the nominate but with slightly brighter and more rufescent upperparts and flanks and slightly more rufous flight feathers. P. r. peruvianus has more but paler rufous on the forehead than the nominate, and brighter and more fulvous flanks. P. r. specularis has more and deeper rufous on the forehead than the nominate, and a largish rufous patch on the flight feathers and rufescent outer tail feathers.
Taxonomy
The rufous-fronted thornbird's taxonomy is unsettled. The International Ornithological Committee (IOC), BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW), and the Clements taxonomy assign it these four subspecies:<p>The South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society adds two more, P. r. inornatus (Ridgway, 1887) and P. r. castilloi (Phelps Jr & Aveledo, 1987). The IOC, HBW, and Clements treat those taxa as the plain thornbird (P. inornatus).<p>This article follows the four-subspecies model.
- Scientific name
- Phacellodomus rufifrons
- Authority
- (Wied-Neuwied, M, 1821)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Furnariidae
- Genus
- Phacellodomus
Range and habitat
The rufous-fronted thornbird has a disjunct distribution. The subspecies are found thus:<p>The rufous-fronted thornbird inhabits a variety of landscapes whose common features are dense thickets and at least some trees. They include arid scrublands both lowland and montane; tropical deciduous, gallery, and secondary forest; cerrado; and savannah. In Brazil it mostly occurs below 1,300 m (4,300 ft); elsewhere it occurs locally as high as 2,000 m (6,600 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The rufous-fronted thornbird is a year-round resident throughout its range.<p>The rufous-fronted thornbird feeds on arthropods. It usually forages in pairs or small groups that include nest helpers but only rarely joins mixed-species feeding flocks. It mostly forages on the ground but will do so as high as the forest's mid-level. It mostly gleans its prey from leaf litter but will search dead foliage in bushes.<p>The rufous-fronted thornbird breeds in the austral spring and summer, roughly from September to as late as April. It is thought to be monogamous and maintains the pair bond year-round. Young from previous broods sometimes remain, and help with nest building, maintenance, and defence. The species makes an extremely large nest for its own size. It constructs a cylinder of sticks (including thorny ones) that can be 2.5 m (8 ft) long and has several chambers and entrances. Often more than one nest is built in a territory, and old nests can be renovated and reused. The clutch size is two to four eggs. The incubation period and time to fledging are not known. Both parents, and helpers if present, provision nestlings.<p>The rufous-fronted thornbird's song is a "rather unstructured series of very high, mewing 'stjew' notes, rising, falling, and repeating". Its calls include an "extr. high, sharp 'sipsipsip-sip-' " and "a sharp 'chip' or 'chek, or a metallic 'tsi'.
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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