Little Thornbird
Phacellodomus sibilatrix
The smallest thornbird. Plumage dull brown, tinged with cinnamon. Note the small cinnamon forehead patch and outer tail feathers. Found in light woodland and scrub, where it builds a large thorn nest. The song is a series of sharp, slightly descending “cheep” notes.
Identification
The little thornbird is 13 to 14 cm (5.1 to 5.5 in) long and weighs about 14 to 16 g (0.49 to 0.56 oz). It is the smallest member of its genus. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a wide dull buff-whitish supercilium that extends beyond the eye and an indistinct dull brown stripe behind the eye on an otherwise light brownish face. Their forehead is light rufous with pale streaks, their crown and back dull brown, and their rump and uppertail coverts rufescent-tinged brown. Their wings are mostly shades of brown with darker brown primary coverts and some rufescence. Their tail's central pair of feathers are dull brown, the next pair mostly rufous with a brownish outer third, and the rest bright rufous. Their throat and belly are dingy whitish, their breast slightly darker, and their flanks and undertail coverts whitish with a tawny-brown tinge. Their iris is greenish gray to dark brown, their maxilla black to dark gray, their mandible light horn-gray to gray, and their legs and feet gray to pinkish gray. Juveniles have slightly darker upperparts and slightly grayer underparts than adults.
Taxonomy
The formal description of the little thornbird is credited to Philip Sclater's 1879 publication. However, a specimen collected by Azara and described in 1817 by Vieillot as Sylvia ruficollis was later determined to be a little thornbird. Sclater's binomial was retained in the interest of long usage and continuity.<p>The little thornbird is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Phacellodomus sibilatrix
- Authority
- Sclater, PL, 1879
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Furnariidae
- Genus
- Phacellodomus
Range and habitat
The little thornbird is found in extreme southern Bolivia's Santa Cruz Department, in western Paraguay, in southwestern Uruguay, and in northern Argentina as far south as Buenos Aires Province. In addition there is at least one record in extreme southwestern Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. It inhabits tropical deciduous forest, Gran Chaco woodlands, savannah with scattered trees, and scrublands. In elevation it ranges from near sea level to 2,000 m (6,600 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The little thornbird is a year-round resident throughout its range.<p>The little thornbird feeds on arthropods. It usually forages in pairs or small groups that may include nest helpers, and occasionally joins mixed-species feeding flocks. It captures prey by gleaning from the ground or from vegetation as high as the forest's mid-storey.<p>The little thornbird breeds in the austral spring and summer, roughly August to February or beyond. It builds a cone-shaped nest of thorny sticks that can be about 40 cm (1 ft) high and lines an interior chamber with shredded vegetation, hair, feathers, and other soft material. It hangs the nest near the end a bush or tree branch, usually in an isolated tree or small cluster of them. The clutch size is usually three and sometimes four eggs. The incubation period, time to fledging, and details of parental care are not known.<p>The little thornbird's song is "a duetted series of sharp, piercing, loud and straight tee tee tees, where one bird goes faster than the other (three notes for two) so the effect is a tee teeter tee teeter teeter tee tee teeter...". Its call is "a sharp 'chip', often repeated".
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Gray-headed Woodpecker
Picus canus
Distinctive medium-sized woodpecker with significant variation across its wide range. Always look for a gray face and thin black moustache stripe. Males have a red forehead patch, which females lack. Varies significantly across range: birds from northern Europe to northeastern Asia have pale gray heads and pale green wings; birds in the rest of mainland Asia average darker overall, with dark napes and crowns; Sumatran birds are dark rusty cinnamon overall. Favored habitats vary with range, including many wooded or semi-wooded habitats from lowlands up into the highlands. Most commonly heard calls a sharp, high-pitched “pik” and a descending series of whistled notes that speeds up, then slows.
Orange-throated Longclaw
Macronyx capensis
A large ground-dwelling pipit-like bird. The upperparts are brown and cryptic, but the underparts are striking: the throat is deep orange, hemmed by a broad black necklace, and the belly is yellow. It has white-tipped tail feathers that make the tail distinctive in flight. Pairs occupy high-altitude and coastal grasslands and open pastures. The species is frequently located by its distinctive nasal “wheeeeah” call. Breeding Yellow-breasted Pipit resembles young Orange-throated Longclaw, but the pipit’s outer tail feathers are white, rather than white-tipped.
Meratus White-eye
Zosterops meratusensis
A recently described species from montane rainforest in SE Borneo. Overall olive-green with a brighter yellow throat, undertail and belly stripe. White eyering, pink-orange lower bill with yellow and black lines between. Forages in groups in the lower and mid-storey, joining mixed-species flocks. Co-occurs with Hume’s White-eye but Meratus White-eye has an olive-green rather than gray belly. Song is a warbling series of high notes and call a “zip” note.
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