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
The Caribbean hornero is a year-round resident throughout its range.<p>The Caribbean hornero's diet is mostly a variety of arthropods. It also includes other small invertebrates like snails. It forages singly or in pairs while walking on the ground, turning over leaves to glean and probe for its prey.<p>The Caribbean hornero's breeding season has not been described. It appears to be prolonged, with evidence of breeding recorded in most months between January and September in Colombia. 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. The clutch size is two eggs. The incubation period, time to fledging, and details of parental care are not known.<p>The Caribbean hornero is very vocal. Its song is a shortish rattle "lasting ca. 4 seconds, accelerating and then slowing, on an even pitch, or falling slightly at the end". Every note has a sharp peak followed by a downslur.
Conservation
- Population trend
- rising
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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