Band-tailed hornero facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Band-tailed hornero |
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| Conservation status | |
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Furnarius
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| Species: |
figulus
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The band-tailed hornero (Furnarius figulus) is a cool bird found only in Brazil. It's also sometimes called the wing-banded hornero. This bird belongs to the ovenbird family called Furnariidae.
Contents
What Does It Look Like?
The band-tailed hornero is a small bird, about 15 to 16 cm (5.9 to 6.3 in) long. That's about the length of a regular pencil! It weighs around 28 g (0.99 oz), which is lighter than a slice of bread. Both male and female horneros look alike.
This bird has a wide white stripe above its eye, like an eyebrow. It has a dark stripe going through its eye. Its head is a reddish-brown color, and its back and tail are also reddish-brown. The tail feathers have brownish-black tips. Its wings are mostly reddish-brown, but the main flight feathers are dark with two reddish-brown bands.
The hornero's throat is whitish, and the rest of its belly is a pale brownish color, with a whiter patch in the middle. It has brown eyes, a brownish beak, and brownish legs and feet.
There are two slightly different types, or subspecies, of the band-tailed hornero. One type has a darker brown head and more black on its tail.
Where Does It Live?
The band-tailed hornero lives only in Brazil, but the two different types live in separate areas.
One type is found along the Amazon River in states like Amazonas and Pará. It also lives along the Araguaia and Tocantins rivers, going south into Tocantins, eastern Mato Grosso, and Goiás.
The other type lives in eastern Brazil, from Maranhão all the way to the Atlantic coast. It also goes south into states like Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. These birds have been spreading into these southern states since the 1980s.
You can find band-tailed horneros in many different places, especially open or partly open areas. They like woodlands, scrublands (areas with small trees and bushes), pastures, the edges of wet marshy areas, and even gardens and parks in cities and towns. They are usually found near water, like rivers. Most of the time, they live in lower areas, but sometimes they can be found higher up in the mountains, even up to 1,250 m (4,100 ft) in some places.
How Does It Behave?
Staying in One Place
The band-tailed hornero stays in the same area all year round. It doesn't migrate to other places.
What Does It Eat?
This bird mainly eats small creatures without backbones, like invertebrates. This includes many different kinds of insects, other arthropods (like spiders), and snails.
It usually looks for food alone or in pairs. It walks on the ground, turning over leaves and small branches to find its prey hiding underneath.
Building a Home and Raising Chicks
We don't know exactly when the band-tailed hornero's breeding season starts and ends, but we know it includes March and April. These birds are thought to stay with one partner for life.
Unlike some other horneros that build special "oven" nests out of mud, the band-tailed hornero builds an open cup-shaped nest. It uses grass and other plant fibers and lines the inside with feathers and hair. They often build their nests at the bottom of palm leaves, inside a bromeliad plant, or sometimes even in a crack in a building.
A female hornero usually lays two eggs. The eggs hatch after about 20 days. We don't know much about how long the chicks stay in the nest or how the parents take care of them after they hatch.
What Does It Sound Like?
The band-tailed hornero has a special song. It's a series of 3 to 20 high, very loud, quick notes that sound like "djip-djip--". The notes get slower and lower in pitch as the song goes on.
They also make different calls, like a harsh "djeep-djeep--" or sounds like "chibit, chep" and "kwee-eh". Often, a pair of horneros will sing their song together!
Is It Safe?
The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) has said that the band-tailed hornero is a species of "Least Concern." This means it's not currently in danger of disappearing.
Even though we don't know the exact number of these birds, they live in a very large area, and their population seems to be growing. There are no big threats to them right now. While their habitat can be a bit spread out, the population in eastern Brazil is actually expanding its range. They also live in at least two protected areas, which helps keep them safe.
