- Phacellodomus rufifrons
Identification
16–17 cm (6¼-6¾ in)
- Dull buff supercilium
- Chestnut forehead
- Light brown upperparts
- Pale underparts
Distribution
South America: found in Ecuador (Zamora Chinchipe), Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina.
Taxonomy
Plain Thornbird was formerly included in Rufous-fronted Thornbird.
Subspecies
Clements recognizes these subspecies[1]:
- P. r. peruvianus:
- P. r. specularis:
- North-eastern Brazil (Pernambuco)
- P. r. rufifrons:
- Eastern Brazil (Piauí, Bahia and Minas Gerais)
- P. r. sincipitalis:
Habitat
Rufus-fronted Thornbird nest (being refurbished for use by Campo Troupial)
Photo © by Daniesser
Sítio São Pedro - Martins Soares, Minas Gerais, Brazil, August 2010
Photo © by Daniesser
Sítio São Pedro - Martins Soares, Minas Gerais, Brazil, August 2010
Dry forests, dry savanna, dry shrubland and former forests.
Behaviour
Diet
They eat a variety of insects, including ants
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. There are usually at least two broods each year.
References
- Clements, J. F., P. C. Rasmussen, T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, A. Spencer, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2023. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2023. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Gill, F, D Donsker, and P Rasmussen (Eds). 2023. IOC World Bird List (v 13.2). Doi 10.14344/IOC.ML.13.2. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/
- Avibase
- Arthur Grosset
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved February 2017)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Rufous-fronted Thornbird. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 2 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Rufous-fronted_Thornbird
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
