The greater thornbird (''Phacellodomus ruber'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

in the family Furnariidae. It is found in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

, and

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s are

subtropical or tropical moist shrubland The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones to the north and south of the tropics. Geographically part of the temperate zones of both hemispheres, they cover the middle latitudes from to approximately 35° north and ...

, riparian thickets, and secondary growths.

Description

The greater thornbird grows to a length of about . The sexes are similar, the upper parts being brown, with a rather more rufous colour on the crown, wings and tail. The underparts are whitish, the neck sometimes being scaled with a darker colour. The iris is yellow and any superciliary streak is inconspicuous. This thornbird is the largest member of the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

; the

freckle-breasted thornbird The freckle-breasted thornbird (''Phacellodomus striaticollis'') is a species of bird in the family Furnariidae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, and Uruguay. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, subtr ...

(''Phacellodomus striaticollis''), though smaller, can look very similar, but is usually a more even shade of brown above with less rufous colouring. The song is a series of loud "chip" notes that gradually become faster but quieter.

Distribution and habitat

The species is native to tropical and subtropical South America. Its range extends from northern Bolivia and central Brazil southwards to Paraguay, northern Argentina and northeastern Uruguay. It typically inhabits areas of undergrowth in lowland gallery woodland, shrubs and scrub, seldom being found far from water. In Bolivia it is found at altitudes of up to .

Ecology

This thornbird tends to skulk in the undergrowth and usually occurs in pairs. However it does utter its song frequently, emerging to perch in a more open position to do this. The pair sometimes sing in duet. It feeds mainly on insects such as

beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

s and

ant Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of 22 ...

s. The nest is a cone-shaped structure up to tall and in diameter, made of twigs and branches. It is often built in a position overhanging water, or is sometimes attached to a telegraph pole or other man-made object. Breeding takes place between October and January.

Status

The greater thornbird is a common species with a very wide range. No particular threats have been recognised and the population is thought to be stable, so the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has rated its conservation status as being of "

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

References

External links

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Image at ADW
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1269189 greater thornbird Birds of Argentina Birds of Bolivia Birds of the Cerrado Birds of the Pantanal Birds of Paraguay greater thornbird Taxa named by Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot Taxonomy articles created by Polbot