Brown cacholote

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Brown cacholote
Pseudoseisura lophotes - Brown Cacholote.JPG
At Santa Fe Province, Argentina
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Furnariidae
Genus: Pseudoseisura
Species:
P. lophotes
Binomial name
Pseudoseisura lophotes
(Reichenbach, 1853)
Subspecies
Pseudoseisura lophotes map.svg
  Year-round
Synonyms

The brown cacholote (Pseudoseisura lophotes) is a medium-sized bird of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It was described by Ludwig Reichenbach in 1853, with its subspecies, argentina, described in 1960 by Kenneth Carroll Parkes. It is nonmigratory, and is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, in forests and parks. Unlike many other birds, the brown cacholote builds large, pitcher-like nests year-round, each weighing many times more than the bird itself. Breeding begins in mid-November, with both parents sharing the responsibility for taking care of the nest equally. Incubation takes 17—20 days, and nestlings fledge at 19 days. They are omnivorous, primarily eating various arthropods, along with the eggs of other birds, fruits, and grain. The causes of death in adults is not well researched, however nestlings are subject to parasitism from various insects. Egg success rate is 59%. They are a least-concern species.

Contents

Taxonomy and systematics

The brown cacholote was first described as Homorus lophotes by Ludwig Reichenbach in 1853 in his book Handbuch der speciellen Ornithologie. [2] [3] It was later moved into the genus Pseudoseisura by Miguel Lillo in 1902. [4] The specific epithet, lophotes, derives from the Greek word lophōtos, meaning "crested". [5]

Derryberry et al.'s 2011 study described a phylogram for Pseudoseisura, along with the rest of the Furnariidae. [6]

Pseudoseisura

Brown cacholote (P. lophotes)

White-throated cacholote (P. gutturalis)

Caatinga cacholote (P. cristata)

Grey-crested cacholote (P. unirufa)

Before 2024, the brown cacholote's taxonomy was previously unsettled, as the International Ornithological Committee and BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World assign it two subspecies, the nominate P. l. lophotes and P. l. argentina, [7] [8] but the Clements Checklist did not recognize P. l. argentina, treating the brown cacholote as monotypic. [9] Later in 2024, it was recognized as a subspecies. [10]

Description

Spiza americana male 94 231051626 13e01e8125 o cropped flipped.png

Songs and calls
Listen to brown cacholote on xeno-canto

The brown cacholote ranges from 24 to 26 cm (9.4 to 10 in) in length and weighs 63 to 79 g (2.2 to 2.8 oz), making it one of the largest furnariids. The entire bird is rufous, with varying shades in different areas. The area between the eye and nostrils is slightly darker, alongside the bottom of the tail feathers. The breast is lighter in color compared to the throat, which is especially vibrant. The feathers on the top of the head (the crest) resembles that of a jay and is especially dark, along with the primary and secondary flight feathers. The iris is yellow, the bill is black, and the legs are grayish-olive to dull greenish, with nestlings having more monotone feet, greener irises, and greyer bill, with yellow gape flanges. Both sexes have the same plumage, and males are slightly larger. [5] Wings are 123 or 128.7 mm (4.84 or 5.07 in), tails are 109.4 or 111.5 mm (4.31 or 4.39 in), and bills are 26.4 or 27 mm (1.04 or 1.06 in) in length, for males and females respectively. They are very distinct in their habitat, and are easily identifiable. [5]

The brown cacholote usually performs from the tops of trees fanned tails and open wings, and it sings as a duet, composed of variably noisy and coarse notes, fading torward the end. Songs can last at least 25 seconds, with around 2 notes per second. [11] [12] [13] Its call is a loud "krok" or "cluck". [5]

Distribution and habitat

The brown cacholote can be found in the more humid regions of the Gran Chaco and Argentine Espinal north of Rio Colorado, however its subspecies are allopatric occupy their own range. The nominate subspecies of the brown cacholote is found in southern Bolivia and western Paraguay, and [5] subspecies P. l. argentina is found in northern and central Argentina, far southern Brazil, and Uruguay, [5] however, vagrants have been spotted as south as Chubut Province. [14]

The species inhabits tropical deciduous forest, the edges of gallery forest, chaco woodlands and scrublands, as well as parks and gardens in urban areas. In elevation it ranges from near sea level to 900 m (3,000 ft). [7] [12] [5] The brown cacholote is a year-round resident throughout its range. [5]

Behavior

The brown cacholote is monogamous, meaning that they stay with a partner permanently. If a partner were to die, a new one would found promptly. [15]

Breeding

Courting is done almost exclusively by male brown cacholotes inside or near the nest. Once both the male and the female were close enough to the nest, they would both begin repeatedly singing a duet. The male would bring its body horizontal to the ground, sag their wings low, and fan its tail feathers, and chittering. [15] The male would then enter the nest and the female would follow, spinning around 2-3 times, before pausing for 15 seconds. The female would then lower her feathers, and they would begin copulating. After copulating, the pair would sing a duet inside the nest. [15]

Nest-building occurs year-round, although nests are more frequently built in the winter months (July-October). [15] Nests usually took 15-37 days to build, with 62 days between new nests on average. [15] Nests are used for both roosting and breeding, however each nest would only be used for 42 days. New nests are always built from scratch, and old nests are never reused, perhaps because of concern for parasites. [15] Old nests are often destroyed or reused as materials for new nests, or destroyed with the foundation intact for reuse in a later nest. Sometimes a pair would immediately start building a new nest after they finished their previous one. [15] Nests are usually built in the pair's territory, which would, on average, be 2–3  ha (4.9–7.4 acres) in size, and contained around 4.4 nests.

Nests are most often found on solitary trees or on the edges of cleared woodlands, around 2–17 m (6.6–55.8 ft) off the ground. [15] The brown cacholote's nest is very unique, consisting of a large, oval chamber, around 22 cm (8.7 in) in interior diameter, and a slightly down-curved entrance, 9–10 cm (3.5–3.9 in) in inner diameter and 30 cm (12 in) in length, with the entire nest around 90 cm (35 in) in length, with the entire structure weighing 2–5 kg (4.4–11.0 lb), many times more than the bird itself. [5] [15] Nests are made of thorny twigs, or if unavailable, regular sticks. Twigs measured on average 15.6 cm (6.1 in) in length, and 5 mm (0.20 in) in diameter. [15]

Eggs are 20.8 and 27.1 mm (0.82 and 1.07 in) in length and diameter, respectively, weighing on average 7.6 g (0.27 oz). Eggs are often stained with blood. [15]

Egg-laying usually begins in mid-November, although it can occur as early as late September or as late as mid-January. If eggs are preyed upon, a new nest would be built and a replacement clutch would be laid. [15] Second broods, similar to replacement clutches, would accompany a new nest, and would usually occur around 70-100 days after the first clutch, although they are very rare(5.7%). Clutches consist of 2-3 eggs, and older pairs have, on average, larger clutches. [15] Incubation takes 18-20 days, and eggs are attended to by both parents during the day, however at night only the female remained in the nest. Sessions between the male and females are shared equally during the day, each taking on average 28 minutes, usually only exchanging roles when the other had arrived at the nest. [15]

Both genders spend equal time and energy caring for the newly hatched nestlings, each bringing on average 11 food items per hour, however during the last week before the nestlings fledged, the frequency would expedite to on average 19 items/h. Both parents shared the duty of removing eggshells and fecal sacs. After fledging (learning how to fly), which usually occurred 19 days after hatching, [15] the parents would continue to bring food to them for 20 more days, reducing the amount as time progresses. At birth, nestlings had pale yellow flanges, grey plumule, and weighed 5.7 g (0.20 oz), however, by day 17, nestlings would be fully feathered and weighed 80 g (2.8 oz). Fledglings remain on the parent's territory for 5-13 months, with females remaining on average 6 months longer. Fledglings are not allowed to help with nest construction and would often chased from the nest by the parents if they tried. After departure, fledglings would move away from the parent's territory or leave entirely. [15]

Nests are occasionally parasitized by the shiny cowbird but their eggs are removed by adult cacholotes. [16]

Feeding

The brown cacholote is omnivorous, having one of the largest diets of any ovenbird. It feeds primarily on arthropods like beetles, centipedes, spiders, or ants, as well as the eggs of other birds, usually the domestic chicken. [17] [18] Additional items in its diet include tree sap, various seeds, snails, various small amphibians, and fruit. [19] [20] They are the most common consumer of any ovenbird of the blue passionflower. It usually forages in pairs or with other brown cacholotes. It feeds mostly on the ground, gleaning, probing, and digging in soil and leaf litter. It has also been observed flaking dung and hammering and pulling on bark and leaf buds. [5]

Survival

Little is known about the causes of mortality in adults, however nestlings are subject to parasitism from botflies, Psitticimex uritui, Philornis, and various mites and Cimicidae, as well as brood parasitism from the shiny cowbird. Adult botflies, accounting for place their eggs on nestlings, preferring those younger than a week, and the larvae burrow into the nestling's skin to feed on its body fluids. [21] Monk parakeets, which often use abandoned brown cacholote nests for rest, may also deposit P. uritui. [22] The brown cacholote usually begin breeding at 2 years old. Eggs have a 59% success rate. [5]

Conservation

BirdLife International has assessed the brown cacholote as being of least concern. It has large range and an unknown population size that is believed to be decreasing. No immediate threats have been identified. [1] It is considered uncommon to fairly common by BirdLife, and occurs in several protected areas, and is somewhat tolerant of habitat disruption; found living in fragmented woodlands as small as 1.5 hectares (3.7 acres). [5]

References

  1. 1 2 BirdLife International (2018). "Brown Cacholote Pseudoseisura lophotes". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2018 e.T22702740A130276118. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22702740A130276118.en . Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  2. ↑ Reichenbach, H. G. Ludwig; Reichenbach, H. G. Ludwig (1836). Die vollständigste Naturgeschichte der Vögel. Dresden: Expedition der Vollständigsten Naturgeschichte.
  3. ↑ "Avibase - The World Bird Database". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2026-01-06.
  4. ↑ Miguel, Lillo (1902). "Enumeración sistemática de las aves de la provincia de Tucumán" [Systematic enumeration of birds in the province of Tucumán]". Anales del Museo Nacional de Buenos Aires [Annals of the National Museum of Buenos Aires]. 3 (1). 169 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Remsen, Jr (2025). "Brown Cacholote (Pseudoseisura lophotes), version 2.0" . Birds of the World. doi:10.2173/bow.brncac1.02. ISSN   2771-3105.
  6. ↑ Derryberry, Elizabeth P.; Claramunt, Santiago; Derryberry, Graham; Chesser, R. Terry; Cracraft, Joel; Aleixo, Alexandre; Pérez-Emán, Jorge; Remsen Jr., J. V.; Brumfield, Robb T. (2011). "LINEAGE DIVERSIFICATION AND MORPHOLOGICAL EVOLUTION IN A LARGE-SCALE CONTINENTAL RADIATION: THE NEOTROPICAL OVENBIRDS AND WOODCREEPERS (AVES: FURNARIIDAE): DIVERSIFICATION OF A CONTINENTAL RADIATION" . Evolution. 65 (10): 2973–2986. doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.2011.01374.x.
  7. 1 2 Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2023). "Ovenbirds, woodcreepers". IOC World Bird List. v 13.2. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  8. ↑ HBW and BirdLife International (2022) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 7. Available at: https://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v7_Dec22.zip retrieved December 13, 2022
  9. ↑ 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/ retrieved October 28, 2023
  10. ↑ "Updates and Corrections—October 2024 – Clements Checklist". Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology. 2024-07-20. Retrieved 2026-01-28. Recognize Pseudoseisura lophotes argentina (...) Treatment by Clements et al. (2024) of Brown Cacholote Pseudoseisura lophotes (Reichenbach, 1853) as comprised of two subspecies, with southern populations bearing the name Pseudoseisura lophotes argentina Parkes, 1960, follows Remsen (2024). Taxon argentina was originally described as a subspecies.
  11. ↑ Herzog, Sebastian K.; Terrill, Ryan S.; Jahn, Alex E.; Remsen, James Vanderbeek; Maillard, Oswaldo; Tofte, Carl Christian (2016). Birds of Bolivia: field guide. Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia: Asociación Armonía. ISBN   978-99905-961-8-2.
  12. 1 2 van Perlo, Ber (2009). A Field Guide to the Birds of Brazil. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 222. ISBN   978-0-19-530155-7.
  13. ↑ Kratter, Andrew W.; Sillett, T. Scott; Chesser, R. Terry; O'Neill, John P.; Parker, Theodore A.; Castillo, Abel (1993). "Avifauna of a Chaco Locality in Bolivia". The Wilson Bulletin. 105 (1): 114–141. ISSN   0043-5643.
  14. ↑ Bartolucci, Cristina S. (2024-03-20). "Primeros registros de Cacholote Castaño (Pseudoseisura lophotes) en Dique Ameghino, Chubut, y los más australes reportados hasta el presente". Nuestras Aves (in Spanish) (69): 97–98. doi: 10.56178/na.vi69.1024 . ISSN   3008-8305.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Nores, Ana I.; Nores, Manuel (1994). "Nest Building and Nesting Behavior of the Brown Cacholote". The Wilson Bulletin. 106 (1): 106–120. ISSN   0043-5643.
  16. ↑ Fraga, Rosendo M. (2002). "Notes on new or rarely reported Shiny Cowbird hosts from Argentina" . Journal of Field Ornithology. 73 (2): 213–219. doi:10.1648/0273-8570-73.2.213. ISSN   0273-8570.
  17. ↑ Masramon, Dora Ochoa de (1971-05-01). "Contribución al estudio de las aves de San Luis". El Hornero (in Spanish). 11 (2): 113–123. doi: 10.56178/eh.v11i2.1283 . ISSN   1850-4884.
  18. ↑ Cueto, Víctor R.; Mezquida, Eduardo T. (2001-12-01). "Un equipo electromecánico económico para identificar depredadores de huevos en nidos artificiales". El Hornero (in Spanish). 16 (2): 71–75. doi: 10.56178/eh.v16i2.897 . ISSN   1850-4884.
  19. ↑ Aravena, Reynaldo O. (1928-10-01). "Notas sobre la alimentación de la aves". El Hornero (in Spanish). 4 (2): 153–166. doi: 10.56178/eh.v4i2.199 . ISSN   1850-4884.
  20. ↑ Salvador, Sergio A. (2017-06-07). "Dieta del cacholote castaño, Pseudoseisura lophotes (Aves: Furnariidae), en Villa María, Córdoba, Argentina". Acta Zoológica Lilloana (in Spanish): 74–80. ISSN   1852-6098.
  21. ↑ Nores, Ana I. (1995). "Botfly Ectoparasitism of the Brown Cacholote and the Firewood-Gatherer". The Wilson Bulletin. 107 (4): 734–738. ISSN   0043-5643.
  22. ↑ Aramburú, Rosana M.; Campos Soldini, María P. (2008). "Presencia de Psitticimex uritui (Hemiptera: Cimicidae) en nidos de caserote Pseudoseisura lophotes (Passeriformes: Furnariidae) en la provincia de Entre Ríos". Revista de la Sociedad Entomológica Argentina (in Spanish). 67 (3–4): 131–133. ISSN   0373-5680.
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