Caribbean Hornero
Furnarius longirostris
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, often with a darker breast. Also note white throat and eyebrow, dark reddish-brown 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 piping whistles. Occurs in Colombia and Venezuela, most common in northern lowlands but also south into central Andean valleys.
Identification
The Caribbean hornero is 17 to 19 cm (6.7 to 7.5 in) long. It is a medium-sized hornero with a long and somewhat decurved bill. The subspecies differ little and the sexes' plumages are alike. Adults have a wide white supercilium, a narrow brownish gray stripe behind the eye, tawny ear coverts, and a tawny-rufous malar area. Their crown is gray. Their back, rump, and wing and uppertail coverts are bright orange rufous. Their tail is chestnut. Their flight feathers are blackish with a rufous band. Their throat is white and the rest of their underparts rich cinnamon-buff. Their iris is dark brown, their maxilla mostly dark, their mandible pale, and their legs and feet pale pinkish.
Taxonomy
The Caribbean 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 species with two subspecies, the nominate F. l. longirostris (Pelzeln, 1856) and F. l. endoecus (Cory, 1919). The South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society (SACC) treats it as two subspecies of the pale-legged hornero (F. leucopus). Early authors (e.g. Chapman) had treated them separately.
- Scientific name
- Furnarius longirostris
- Authority
- Pelzeln, 1856
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Furnariidae
- Genus
- Furnarius
Range and habitat
The Caribbean hornero is found from Córdoba and Antioquia departments in northern Colombia east into northwestern Venezuela to Falcón state. It inhabits a wide variety of semi-open to open landscapes 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 near water. In elevation it mostly occurs below 1,500 m (4,900 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: rising.
- Population trend
- rising
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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