Orange-eyed Thornbird

Overview

The orange-eyed thornbird (Phacellodomus erythrophthalmus) is a medium-sized bird species in the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is endemic to southeastern Brazil, where it resides year-round.

Identification

• Size: 16 to 18 cm long, weighing 21 to 27 g.
• Plumage: Bright rufous forehead and forecrown, dark brownish olive crown and back, and a rufous tail.
• Markings: Indistinct rufous-brown supercilium, darker brown lores, and a stripe behind the eye on a rufescent-brownish face.
• Song: A slow, descending series of up to 15 sharp, ringing tones, sometimes described as 'chree, chree, chree-tsrééeh'.

Habitat

Found in the Atlantic Forest biome of southeastern Brazil, from southern Bahia to northeastern São Paulo state. It primarily inhabits humid lowland and montane evergreen forest and secondary forest, ranging from near sea level to 850 m, though locally reaching 1,700 m in the south.

Diet

Its diet is known to include insects, though it has not been fully studied. It typically forages singly or in pairs, gleaning prey from vegetation in the forest's thick undergrowth.

Did you know?

The species is thought to build boot-shaped nests from thorny sticks, which can be up to 40 cm wide and high, hanging them from the end of a tree branch 1.5 to 4.3 m above the ground.