- Phytotoma rara
Identification
18-20cm (7-8 in)
Male
- Rufous forehead and crown
- Rear neck, back and upper tail coverts brown with black stripes
- Cinnamon-rufous throat, chest, abdomen and under tail coverts
- Black wings with white transversal band
- Tail:
- Black central retrices
- Rufous band on middle of remaining feathers
- Bill wide
- Red eyes
Female
- Greyish-brown upperparts with black stripes
- Cinnamon throat
- White chest and abdomen with fine black stripes (more noticeable on chest and flanks)
- Black wings black (lacking white band of male)
Distribution
South America: found in central and southern Chile and Argentina; accidental Falkland Islands
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species[1].
Habitat
Open thorny scrub, gardens, farmland and orchards.
Behaviour
Diet
Their mainly vegetarian diet consists of grass and other green plant material, fruit and berries. They also take some insects.
Breeding
They build a cup-shaped nest from root fibre and twigs, in the forks of fruit trees. The clutch consists of 2 to 4 light blue-green eggs with some dusky specks.
Gallery
Click on photo for larger image
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Walther, B. (2020). Rufous-tailed Plantcutter (Phytotoma rara). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/node/56994 on 10 February 2020)
- Deviant Art
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Rufous-tailed Plantcutter. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 11 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Rufous-tailed_Plantcutter
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
