Bay hornero

Bay hornero
Illustration by Joseph Smit, 1890
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1) [1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Furnariidae
Genus:	Furnarius
Species:	F. torridus
Binomial name
Furnarius torridus Sclater, PL & Salvin, 1866

The bay hornero or pale-billed hornero (Furnarius torridus) is a species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. ^[2] It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and possibly Eucador. ^[3]

Taxonomy and systematics

The bay hornero was originally described as a species but some early 20th century authors treated it as a subspecies of the pale-legged hornero (F. leucopus). Since the 1930s most taxonomists have again treated it as a species and early 2010s genetic data confirmed that treatment. However, even as late as 1973 one author considered it a color morph of the pale-legged. ^{[4] [5] [6] [7]}

The bay hornero is monotypic. ^[2]

Description

The bay hornero is 16 to 19 cm (6.3 to 7.5 in) long and weighs about 53 g (1.9 oz). It is a stout hornero with a long and nearly straight bill. The sexes' plumages are alike. Adults have a dull buffy white supercilium. Their crown and nape are grayish brown. Their back, rump, uppertail and wing coverts, and tail are chestnut brown ("bay"). Most of their wing is also chestnut brown, with a small area of pale rufous on the inner primaries. Their throat is white with dark tawny brown sides. Their breast is dark tawny brown, their flanks buffy brown, their belly whitish, and their undertail coverts dusky with chestnut brown tips. Their iris is brown or reddish brown, their maxilla light horn brown with a darker base and culmen, their mandible whitish, cream, or pinkish gray, and their legs and feet cream or very light pink. ^{[8] [9] [10]}

Distribution and habitat

The bay hornero is found in the western Amazon Basin along the rios Huallaga, Ucayali, and Napo in Peru, and through extreme southern Colombia and western Brazil along the upper Amazon (rio Solimões). ^[8] A sight record in Ecuador leads the South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society to call it hypothetical in that country. ^[3]

The bay hornero primarily inhabits middle-aged river islands that undergo annual flooding, typically in stands of Cecropia . It also occurs on older islands and in várzea forest along the rivers. ^{[8] [9]} In Colombia most of the few records are grassy islands. ^[10]

Behavior

Movement

The bay hornero is a year-round resident throughout its range. ^[8]

Feeding

The bay hornero's diet and foraging behavior are poorly known. It forages on the ground, usually in pairs, and usually under vegetation overhangs. It is assumed to feed on arthropods and other terrestrial vertebrates. ^[8]

Breeding

The bay hornero's nest is typical of its genus, "a mud dome with a side entrance" on a horizontal tree limb. Nothing else is known about its breeding biology. ^[8]

Songs and calls Listen to bay hornero on xeno-canto

Vocalization

The bay hornero's song is "a long, descending, staccato series rather like that of Pale-legged [Hornero], but with a distinctive closely spaced, ascending terminal component". ^[8] It has also been described as a "descending, hurried series of loud, fluted notes, ending in a tremolo". ^[9] Its calls include "an explosive keek or tseek". ^[8]

Status

The IUCN has assessed the bay hornero as being of Least Concern. It has a fairly large range and a population of unknown size that is believed to be decreasing. No immediate threats have been identified. ^[1] It is considered "uncommon to fairly common" in Peru. ^[8]

References

1. BirdLife International (2016). "Pale-billed Hornero Furnarius torridus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T22702140A93861663. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22702140A93861663.en . Retrieved 21 August 2023.
2. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2023). "Ovenbirds, woodcreepers". IOC World Bird List. v 13.2. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
3. Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, G. Del-Rio, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 31 May 2023. Species Lists of Birds for South American Countries and Territories. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCCountryLists.htm retrieved May 31, 2023
4. Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, G. Del-Rio, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 31 May 2023. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved May 31, 2023
5. Sclater, P. L., and O. Salvin. 1866. Catalogue of birds collected by Mr. E. Bartlett on the River Ucayali, eastern Peru, with notes and descriptions of new species. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 175-201.
6. Zimmer, J. T. 1936. Studies of Peruvian birds. XIX. Notes on the genera Geositta, Furnarius, Phleocryptes, Certhiaxis, Cranioleuca, and Asthenes. American Museum Novitates number 860.
7. Vaurie, C. (1973). Individual variation in Furnarius leucopus torridus (Furnariidae, Aves). American Museum Novitates 2515:1–11.https://digitallibrary.amnh.org/handle/2246/2722
8. Schulenberg, T. S. and M. G. Harvey (2020). Pale-billed Hornero (Furnarius torridus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.pabhor2.01 retrieved August 21, 2023
9. van Perlo, Ber (2009). A Field Guide to the Birds of Brazil. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 210. ISBN   978-0-19-530155-7.
10. McMullan, Miles; Donegan, Thomas M.; Quevedo, Alonso (2010). Field Guide to the Birds of Colombia. Bogotá: Fundación ProAves. p. 115. ISBN   978-0-9827615-0-2.