The lesser hornero (''Furnarius minor'') 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 ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is closely related to the

Pale-legged hornero The pale-legged hornero (''Furnarius leucopus'') is a species of bird in the family Furnariidae. It includes the Pacific hornero (''F. leucopus cinnamomeus'') and the Caribbean hornero (''F. leucopus longirostris''), which often are considered s ...

, and their global distribution overlaps somewhat. This species is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

, meaning there is only one subspecies. The lesser hornero is found in

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 ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

, and

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

, along the banks of the

Amazon River The Amazon River (, ; es, Río Amazonas, pt, Rio Amazonas) in South America is the largest river by discharge volume of water in the world, and the disputed longest river system in the world in comparison to the Nile. The headwaters of t ...

and some of its major tributaries. It is a river specialist, feeding and breeding mostly in river island scrub and early successional scrub along the edge of white-water rivers and on young river islands and, in Peru the understory of ''

Cecropia ''Cecropia'' is a Neotropical genus consisting of 61 recognized species with a highly distinctive lineage of dioecious trees. The genus consists of pioneer trees in the more or less humid parts of the Neotropics, with the majority of the speci ...

'' forest. This type of successional habitat is dependent on seasonal flooding and is patchily distributed along the length of its range. It is found from above sea-level.Remsen, J.V., Jr & Bonan, A. (2017). Lesser Hornero (''Furnarius minor''). 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 http://www.hbw.com/node/56393 on 3 March 2017). The lesser hornero is a very small ovenbird, in length and weighing . The head is grey with a prominent white stripe above the eye, a white throat, a rufous rump and wings, tawny-buff breast and flanks becoming paler below. The bill is long and straight. Both sexes are alike, and the plumage of juvenile birds has not been described. The lesser hornero feeds on arthropods and other invertebrates. It hunts individually or in pairs, searching the ground, river-shore mud or low branches for prey, often foraging in dense cover. Like other species in its genus, it constructs a mud "oven" nest in the branches of trees, and lines the nest with grasses and hair. The clutch size is four eggs. Little else is known about its nesting habits, other than it has been recorded building its nests in November and incubating in January.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3089866

lesser hornero The lesser hornero (''Furnarius minor'') is a species of bird in the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is closely related to the Pale-legged hornero, and their global distribution overlaps somewhat. This species is monotypic, meaning there is onl ...

Birds of the Amazon Basin Birds of the Ecuadorian Amazon Birds of the Peruvian Amazon

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot