Orange-fronted Plushcrown

Overview

The orange-fronted plushcrown (Metopothrix aurantiaca) is a small bird in the ovenbird family Furnariidae, distinguished by its unusual yellow and greenish plumage. It is the only member of its genus and is currently assessed as Least Concern by the IUCN Red List.

Identification

• A small bird 11 to 12 cm long with a bright orange forehead and yellow lores, eyering, and supercilium that turn greenish yellow behind the eye.
• Underparts are yellow on the throat and dull yellowish green elsewhere, contrasting with greenish olive upperparts.
• Legs and feet are bright yellow-orange to yellow, and the song is a descending series of three to five high thin notes accompanied by a thin "tsweet-tsweet" call.

Habitat

Found in southeastern Colombia, eastern Ecuador and Peru, northeastern Bolivia, and western Brazil, this species inhabits forests along rivers, islands, mature secondary forest, and the edges of clearings in várzea and terra firme forest. It is seldom found far from a river and generally occurs at elevations between 150 and 650 m, reaching only 500 m in Colombia.

Diet

This bird feeds mostly on arthropods but has occasionally been observed eating fruit. It typically forages in pairs or small family groups, sometimes joining mixed-species flocks, by gleaning prey from leaves and twigs in the mid-storey to canopy, often hanging acrobatically from branches.

Did you know?

Its plumage is so unlike that of most ovenbirds that many authors have questioned its placement in the Furnariidae family, as it more closely resembles a tanager or warbler.