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Alternative name: Common Thornbird

Subspecies inornatus Plain Thornbird
Photo by Bananafishbones
Hato Pinero, Llanos, Venezuela, March 2012

Phacellodomus rufifrons

Includes: Plain Thornbird

[edit] Identification

[edit] Distribution

South America: found in Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina.

Subspecies sincipitalis
Photo by Fritz73
Aguas Calientes, Jujuy, Argentina, 2004

[edit] Taxonomy

[edit] Subspecies

There are 7 subspecies^[1]:

• P. r. inornatus:

• Llanos of north-eastern Colombia and Venezuela
• Considered a separate species (Plain Thornbird) by IOC^[2]

• P. r. castilloi:

• Southern Venezuela (northern Bolívar)

• P. r. peruvianus:

• North-western Peru (Río Marañón Valley) and adjacent southern Ecuador

• P. r. specularis:

• North-eastern Brazil (Pernambuco)

• P. r. rufifrons:

Rufus-fronted Thornbird nest (being refurbished for use by Campo Troupial)
Photo by Daniesser
Sítio São Pedro - Martins Soares, Minas Gerais, Brazil, August 2010

• Eastern Brazil (Piauí, Bahia and Minas Gerais)

• P. r. fargoi:

• South-western Brazil (Mato Grosso) and northern Paraguay

• P. r. sincipitalis:

• Bolivia (Santa Cruz and Tarija) and north-western Argentina

[edit] Habitat

Dry forests, dry savanna, dry shrubland and former forests.

[edit] Behaviour

[edit] Breeding

They build huge stick nest which may be up to 2 metres long. They contain chambers although only one is used. The same pair will build a new nest each year and usually in the same or a nearby tree.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2011. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to August 2011. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/downloadable-clements-checklist
2. Gill, F and D Donsker (Eds). 2010. IOC World Bird Names (version 2.7). Available at http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.
3. Avibase
4. Arthur Grosset

• List of references

[edit] External Links