Pacific Hornero
Furnarius cinnamomeus
Thrush-sized, plump bird of open habitats, especially near water. Particularly fond of disturbed areas, often around human settlements, clearings, and roadsides. Builds an impressive dome-shaped mud nest. Rich rufous above and pale tan below, with a whiter throat and eyebrow. Look for staring pale eye. Most often seen strutting confidently on the ground, and also perches high in a tree or atop a building to sing: listen for a long, loud, descending series of explosive “pee” notes. Mostly restricted to lowlands and foothills in western Ecuador and northwestern Peru, just barely occurring in far southwestern Colombia.
Identification
The Pacific hornero is 19 to 20 cm (7.5 to 7.9 in) long and weighs about 45 to 63 g (1.6 to 2.2 oz). It is a medium-sized hornero with a long and somewhat decurved bill. The sexes' plumages are alike. Adults have a wide whitish supercilium, a narrow brownish gray stripe through the eye, tawny ear coverts, and a tawny-rufous malar area. Their crown is gray-brown. Their back, rump, and wing and uppertail coverts are bright orange rufous. Their tail is chestnut. Their flight feathers are blackish with a wide rufous band. Their throat is white and the rest of their underparts pale cinnamon-buff. Their iris is yellow to whitish, their maxilla mostly dark, their mandible pale, and their legs and feet pale brownish gray.
Taxonomy
The Pacific hornero's taxonomy is unsettled. The International Ornithological Committee (IOC), BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW), and the Clements taxonomy treat it as a monotypic species. The South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society (SACC) treats it as a subspecies of the pale-legged hornero (F. leucopus). Early authors (e.g. Chapman) had treated them separately. The SACC accepts that cinnamomeus may deserve species rank but declined to make the split due to "insufficient published data".
- Scientific name
- Furnarius cinnamomeus
- Authority
- (Lesson, RP, 1844)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Furnariidae
- Genus
- Furnarius
Range and habitat
The Pacific hornero is found from far southwestern Colombia's Nariño Department south through western Ecuador and into northwestern Peru as far as Ancash Department. It first appeared in Colombia in 2012 and is possibly expanding its range even further north.<p>The Pacific hornero inhabits a wide variety of semi-open to open landscapes, mostly in the lowlands. These include forest and woodlands along rivers (gallery forest), the edges of secondary forest, agricultural areas, and parks and gardens in towns. It favors areas of middling humidity, usually near water, and shuns very humid and very arid areas. In elevation it mostly occurs below 1,500 m (4,900 ft), though in Ecuador's Loja Province it reaches 2,300 m (7,500 ft) in the subtropic zone.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The Pacific hornero is a year-round resident throughout its range.<p>The Pacific hornero's diet is mostly a variety of arthropods. It also includes other small invertebrates like snails and there are records of the species catching small fish in shallow pools near the end of the dry season. It forages singly or in pairs while walking on the ground, turning over leaves to glean and probe for its prey.<p>The Pacific hornero's breeding season appears to include at least January to April. Though its nest has not been formally described, it is an "oven" of mud with an inner chamber lined with dry plant matter. Both members of a pair construct it, typically on a tree branch but also on horizontal structures like the crossbars of utility poles. The clutch size is two or three eggs. The incubation period, time to fledging, and details of parental care are not known.<p>The Pacific hornero is very vocal. Its song is "an arresting - at times almost raucous-and fast series of loud piercing notes that gradually slows and drops in pitch". Members of a pair sometimes sing in unison. One call is "a loud and clear 'kyeek' ".
Conservation
- Population trend
- rising
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Togian White-eye
Zosterops somadikartai
A small green songbird with a black forehead, a yellow throat, and white underparts except for the base of the undertail, which is also yellow. Note the indistinct, intermittent white eye-ring. Active pairs or groups inhabit scrub and mangroves in the lowlands. Confined to the Togian Islands, where it is the only known white-eye. Song is a rapid, high-pitched warble: “wisisititititiwi.”
Purple Indigobird
Vidua purpurascens
Nest parasite that lays its eggs in the nests of Jameson’s Firefinch. Breeding males are glossy purplish-black, with a pale brownish panel in the wings, while females and non-breeding males are streaky and brown on the back and pale below, with a bold facial pattern. The bill is whitish and the legs very pale pink. Found in forest edge, cultivation, thick woodland, and scrub. Mimics the vocalizations of its host firefinches: a fast trill. Extremely similar to Variable Indigobird. In South Africa, separated by its pale pinkish legs. Elsewhere, breeding males probably slightly more glossy but only separated with certainty by hearing mimicked vocalizations of host species.
Buff-browed Chachalaca
Ortalis superciliaris
Small chachalaca, brown overall with a pale buff eyebrow. Found in edge habitats, thickets, and young second-growth forests, even at the edge of urban areas. Song is typical of a chachalaca: a noisy, high-pitched, raucous “TJURRE-wruh,” repeated continually.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.