Greater Thornbird

Phacellodomus ruber

Large and bulky thornbird with a long tail, conspicuous yellow eyes, and a whitish throat. Cinnamon above and buff below. Found in woodland and scrubby areas near water, where it builds huge stick nests. The song is very loud and explosive and is usually delivered as a duet.

识别特征

The greater thornbird is 19 to 21 cm (7.5 to 8.3 in) long and weighs about 35 to 51 g (1.2 to 1.8 oz). It is heaviest and reddest thornbird. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a mostly rufescent brown to grayish brown face with a paler supercilium and ear coverts and a whitish malar area. Their crown is reddish chestnut with pale streaks, their back rich reddish brown to olive-brown that sometimes becomes chesntut on the lower back, their rump a lighter rufescent brown, and their uppertail coverts chestnut. Their wings are a nearly uniform rufous-chestnut and their tail reddish chestnut. Their throat is whitish, their breast pale with a light brownish tinge, their belly whitish, and their undertail coverts light rufescent brown. Their iris is light yellow to orange, their maxilla blackish to dark grayish horn, their mandible pale gray to grayish green, and their legs and feet gray to olive. Juveniles have a less defined crown patch than adults and brownish mottling on their breast.

分类信息

The greater thornbird is monotypic. It and the freckle-breasted thornbird (P. striaticollis) are sister species.

学名
Phacellodomus ruber
命名信息
(Vieillot, 1817)
Passeriformes
Furnariidae
Phacellodomus

分布与栖息地

The greater thornbird is found in north-central and eastern Bolivia, from Bolivia east in Brazil to western Pernambuco and Bahia and south into Rio Grande do Sul, through central Paraguay into northern Argentina as far as Corrientes Province, and into western Uruguay. The species inhabits a variety of landscapes, almost always near water. These include thickets along watercourses, gallery forest, the borders of marshes, and scrublands. In elevation it mosty occurs between 300 and 1,100 m (1,000 and 3,600 ft) but locally reaches 1,400 m (4,600 ft) in Bolivia.

迁徙
Resident species

行为

The greater thornbird is a year-round resident throughout its range.<p>The greater thornbird feeds on a wide variety of arthropods. It usually forages in pairs. It captures prey by gleaning from the ground or from vegetation as in the forest's understorey.<p>The greater thornbird breeds during the austral spring and summer, roughly September to January or beyond. It makes a cone-shaped nest of thorny twigs and branches that can be about 60 cm (2 ft) high and 50 cm (2 ft) wide at its base, and lines an interior chamber with soft plant material and feathers. It hangs the nest from a tree or shrub branch, usually 1 to 3 m (3 to 10 ft) above the ground, and often over water. The usual clutch size is three to four eggs with rarely a fifth. The incubation period, time to fledging, and details of parental care are not known.<p>The greater thornbird's song is a "series of up to 20 loud, sharp, resounding notes, starting very high and explosive, thereafter slightly accelerating and gradually descending". Rendered in words it is "poo tew tew tew too too tootootoochoochew". Pairs often sing in duet. Its calls include a "loud, high 'djeub-djeb-djebdjed' " and "sharp 'check check' and 'chweet'.

保护状况

种群趋势
declining

照片

分布

鸟叫声

其他鸟类

White-throated Caracara

White-throated Caracara

Daptrius albogularis

Uncommon in southern Andes; range does not overlap with Mountain Caracara. Favors open habitats above treeline, but also ranges lower to scavenge at dumps and in farmland with open trees. Often associates with Chimango and Crested Caracaras at the dump outside Ushuaia, Argentina. Sails, soars, and tumbles easily on updrafts. Adult is handsome and strikingly patterned black-and-white with creamy white underparts and a bold white tail tip. Juvenile is rather similar to smaller Chimango Caracara, but distinguished by black (not pale) bill.

Palani Laughingthrush

Palani Laughingthrush

Montecincla fairbanki

This is the only montane laughingthrush in its range and hence unmistakable. It has dull olive-brown upperparts, a grey-streaked white breast, and a rufous-chestnut lower breast and belly. The most striking characteristic is the white eyebrow, flaring in front of the eye over a dark eye-line. Found in stunted montane forests, tea estates, and wooded second growth, in pairs or noisy flocks, producing a melodious “pe-kee-ke” song and several other chatters intermingled with musical notes. Heard more often than seen; its songs and calls are usually the first indication of its presence. 

Angola White-eye

Angola White-eye

Zosterops kasaicus

A small, sharp-billed warbler-like bird that is saturated with yellow. Note the yellow underparts, olive-yellow back, and bold white spectacles around the eyes. Found in forest, savanna, scrub, gardens, moist woodland, and plantations, usually in hyperactive flocks that can contain many individuals. Often joins mixed flocks with other small birds. Most common call is a high-pitched rising rattle. Song is a quiet, chatty sequence of “chew” notes. Similar to Pale White-eye, but usually separated by range; shows more yellow above the bill, is more richly-colored overall, and prefers moister habitats. Also similar to Southern Yellow White-eye, and separation and degree of range overlap is poorly understood.

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