Rufous Hornero: how to recognise it
A bird of South America. Learn the marks that make it easy to identify, then practise with real photographs in Lore.
Practise with real photosAll species guides
Photo © Ron Knight · CC BY · iNaturalist · all photo credits
- Scientific name
- Furnarius rufus
- Family
- Ovenbirds and Woodcreepers
- Size
- About 19 cm
- Habitat
- Open country, fields, towns and gardens
- Found in
- South America
The key marks
Plain rufous-brown bird with a bright rufous rump and tail, a white throat and pale cinnamon underparts. It walks on the ground. Pacific Hornero is very similar but lives in the northwest of South America, west of the Andes.
Voice
A loud, fast, rattling laugh, often as a duet.
Good to know
It builds a domed nest of mud and straw that looks like an old clay oven, often on a post or a branch. It is the national bird of Argentina.
Do not confuse with
Compare it with the Pacific Hornero. Look at the marks above one by one rather than the overall colour, and practise telling the two apart with real photos.
Where and when
You can expect to find it in open country, fields, towns and gardens. It is especially common in Brazil and Argentina. Distribution changes with the seasons and from year to year, so check a recent local observation source before you go looking.