Wing-banded Hornero
Furnarius figulus
Medium-sized ovenbird that is usually seen walking on the ground close to water bodies and marshy areas, but it is also found in pastures and even gardens. Rufous above and buff below with a conspicuous white eyebrow and brown mask. Similar to Pale-legged Hornero, but has a dark (not pinkish) legs. The song is a loud series of up to 30 “djip-djip” notes, often delivered as a duet.
Identification
The band-tailed hornero is 15 to 16 cm (5.9 to 6.3 in) long and weighs about 28 g (0.99 oz). It is a small hornero with a long and nearly straight bill. The sexes' plumages are alike. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a wide white supercilium, dingy rufous lores, a dark stripe through the eye, dull rufous ear coverts, and a tawny buff malar area. Their crown is chestnut-rufous and their back, rump, and uppertail coverts a slightly paler chestnut-rufous. Their tail is also chestnut-rufous, with brownish black tips on the inner webs of its feathers. Their wing coverts and secondaries are rufous and their primaries fuscous with two dark rufous bands. Their throat is whitish that becomes pale tawny-brown on the rest of their underparts but for a whitish center to the belly and almost white undertail coverts. Their iris is brown, their bill brownish, and their legs and feet also brownish. Subspecies F. f. pileatus has much a darker brown crown and ear coverts and more black on the tail than the nominate.
Taxonomy
The band-tailed hornero has two subspecies, the nominate F. f. figulus (Lichtenstein, MHC, 1823) and F. f. pileatus (Sclater, PL & Salvin, 1878).
- Scientific name
- Furnarius figulus
- Authority
- (Lichtenstein, MHC, 1823)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Furnariidae
- Genus
- Furnarius
Range and habitat
The two subspecies of the band-tailed hornero have widely separated ranges within Brazil. F. f. pileatus is found along the Amazon River from eastern Amazonas to central Pará and south along the Araguaia and Tocantins rivers through Tocantins and eastern Mato Grosso into Goiás. F. f. figulus is found in eastern Brazil from Maranhão east to the Atlantic and south into Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo states. Its expansion into these last two states from Espírito Santo and Minas Gerais had begun by the 1980s.<p>The band-tailed hornero inhabits a variety of landscapes, most of which are semi-open to open. These include woodlands, scrublands in deforested areas, pastures, the edges of marshes, and urban and suburban gardens and parks. It is usually found near water, especially rivers. In most of its range it occurs below 600 m (2,000 ft) of elevation though it reaches 900 m (3,000 ft) in a few areas and has been recorded at 1,250 m (4,100 ft) in Minas Gerais.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: rising.
- Population trend
- rising
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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An impressive long-tailed bird of wooded habitats including shade coffee plantations. Usually found in dense vegetation though sometimes found sunning in the open at first light with its tail spread. Note this species long straight narrow bill, brilliant red eyering, gray chest, and chestnut belly. The Mangrove Cuckoo is passingly similar but has a much shorter bill, a black mask, and lacks the red eyering visible on Puerto Rican Lizard-Cuckoo. Secretive, but not shy, this species is often first detected by its voice. Song is a long, rapid, ratcheting “keh-keh-keh…” series that often accelerates and/or decelerates throughout. Other calls include a harsh, “craaa.”
Gray Teal
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Plain grayish mottled duck with a rounded crown. Note plain face lacking the bold stripes of Pacific Black Duck. White wing panels are distinctive in flight compared to purple/green of Pacific Black Duck. Told from female Chestnut Teal by the much paler neck/throat. One of the most common ducks in many waterways, forming enormous flocks numbering in the 1000s.
Green-throated Mango
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Large, dark hummingbird found in coastal regions and along large rivers. Use caution eliminating the more widespread Black-throated Mango, which often occurs in the same habitats; female-plumaged birds in particular may not be safely separable. Found in mangroves, abandoned plantations, swampy forests, and urban areas, often at higher levels in flowering trees, where it feeds on nectar and hawks for tiny flying insects. In proper light, green throat of male is diagnostic. Tail color is useful if bird can be studied at length; Green-throated’s tail is mostly purple, with brownish central tail feathers (tail of Black-throated is more chestnut, but subject to variation depending on light).
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