English - Rufous Hornero
Portuguese - João-de-barro
Latin - Furnarius rufus
The Rufous Hornero is a medium-sized ovenbird in the Furnariidae family of birds. It is also known as the red ovenbird and it is the national bird of Argentina.
The plumage of the Rufous Hornero is overall reddish brown with a dull brown crown and a whitish throat. Both sexes look alike, and juvenile birds are slightly paler below. It has a square tail and a straight bill. An adult is about 20 cm in length and weighs around 49 grams. It has lighter feathers above the eyes which take the form of eyebrow and is a slight contrast to the rest of the head plumage. They are one of the prettiest calling birds with the vocalisation of male and female slightly different.
The Rufous Hornero occurs in northern and eastern Bolivia, southern Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and northern and central Argentina. It frequents pastures and cultivated areas, open habitats with bare soil, second-growth scrub, parks and gardens, and may be found near settlements. It is often seen near water such as rivers, lakes and ponds. It is mostly seen in lowlands, but it also frequents dry, cultivated valleys up to 3500 metres.
Rufous Hornero feeds mainly on insects and spiders, and some seeds. Invertebrates, including earthworms, snails and larvae are obtained by foraging on the ground while walking.
Breeding season for the Rufous Hornero occurs mainly during the austral spring and summer. They build an oven-shaped nest. This large spherical nest is made with clay, mud and vegetation such as straw. It is a 30 cm structure in diameter and up to 25 cm high. The walls are about 3 to 5 cm thick. The nest can weigh up to 5 kg. The nest is usually built about 8 metres above the ground, and is usually situated on an exposed tree branch or any suitable structure. The female Rufous Hornero usually lays 2 to 4 eggs. and are Incubated by both parents for about 18 days. Chicks are brooded and fed by both adults. The chicks are fed mainly with insects such as crickets and insects’ larvae. Adults share all nesting duties. The young fledge about 26 days after hatching, and depend on their parents for another two or three weeks. They remain within the parental territory for 4 to 9 months more. This species can produces up to two broods per season.
The Rufous Hornero is common, even abundant in most part of its range in suitable habitat. This species is not threatened at this moment. The Rufous Hornero has benefited from human changes to the environment and many live in highly modified habitat, such as city suburbs. In turn abandoned nests may be of benefit to various other species of birds that nest in its unused nests. The saffron Finch is one species that commonly nests in old Rufous Hornero nests. It is not threatened by human activities and is listed as a species “of least concern” by the IUCN.
Photo of the Rufous Hornero was taken at Museu Vale - Vila Velha - Espirito Santo.
English - Ruby-crowned Tanager
Portuguese - Tiê-preto
Latin - Tachyphonus coronatus
The Ruby-crowned Tanager is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family of birds.
The Ruby-crowned Tanager is a medium sized Neotropical tanager, and like most species in the genus Tachyphonus, males are primarily black with white underwing coverts and they have a scarlet patch on the centre of the crown that is usually hidden unless the crest is raised for displays etc, while females are dull olive or brown. Both sexes show a pale blue colour on the lower mandible. Their legs are thorn-grey to dark-grey to black. They are about 18cm in length and can weigh up to 29 grams. The Ruby-crowned Tanagers has a loud, melodious, and leisurely delivered sound with several phrases that are delivered repeatedly, usually with ch sounds.
The Ruby-crowned Tanager is found in the countries of Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina. It is commonly found on the edges of tropical lowland evergreen forests. It is also found at the edges of montane evergreen forests to about 1300 m and occasionally be found within secondary forests. It dwells along the edge of semi deciduous forests, in the moist broadleaf restinga forests, open woodland, forest fragments, thickets, timber plantations, and dense second growth forests.
The Ruby-crowned Tanager is omnivorous and typically forages near the ground at forest edges, but will also feed mid story in trees. It feeds on fruits, seeds, flowers and insects. Will attend garden feeders with fruits if present.
The Ruby-crowned Tanager usually breeds in summer from late September to January. They build a cup shaped nest that can be up to 2 m off the ground. Often built in dense foliage such as thickets, coffee bushes, or new shoots of a tree stump. The nests are commonly built next to streams and consist of broad grass leaves and plant stems, lined with fine rootlets. The female lays between 2-3 eggs. The eggs have a whitish base colour tinged with salmon-pinkish or yellow with smudges of reddish-brown to chocolate-brown particularly at the large end. The eggs are incubated for around 13 days. Both parents feed the nestlings. The nestlings fledge 9 days after hatching.
The conservation status of the Ruby-crowned Tanager is listed by the IUCN Red List as a species “of Least Concern”. It received this classification due to its large estimated range. Although population sizes have not been quantified, it has been described as a common species and there is no evidence of population declines or major threats. It can also adapt and live in an array of habitats, plus it is a common species in numerous protected areas.
Photo No 1 was taken at Alfredo Chaves - Espírito Santo
Photo No 2 was taken at Marechal Floriano - Espirito Santo
English - Green-winged Macaw
Portuguese - Arara-vermelha-grande
Latin - Ara chloropterus
The Green-winged Macaw, also known as the Red and Green Macaw is one of the largest Macaw of the Ara genus family.
The Green-winged Macaw is a large, mostly red parrot with a long tail, conspicuous green upper wing coverts, and a large bill. It is most easily distinguished from the largely sympatric Scarlet Macaw by the fact that it has green upper wing coverts (bright yellow in Scarlet Macaw, although immature Green-winged Macaws may show some yellowish green), red feathered lines on the twin white face patches, and are slightly larger size. The beak is strongly hooked and built to crush or open even the hardest nuts and seeds. Its legs are dark grey and their feet are zygodactylous. The Green-winged Macaw can get to 90cm in length with a wingspans of up to 122 cm. They weigh around 1.7kgs. Like all other Macaws they are monomorphic. Their calls include different vocalisations, such as shrieking, or yelping and cawing sounds.
The Green-winged Macaw can be found in eastern Panama through Colombia and from Venezuela east to Brazil and south to Paraguay and Bolivia. They are found in tropical rainforests, along lowlands and the lower foothills of interior regions, mostly avoiding coastal areas.
The diet of the Green-winged Macaw include nuts, fruit, berries, seeds and some vegetable matter foraged from trees constitute the typical diet of these macaws in the wild. They are able to eat some poisonous fruits due to their habit of eating river clay, which appears to neutralise the toxins.
Green-Winged Macaws reach maturity when they are about 2 to 3 years old. They display courtship rituals to indicate they have found a suitable mate; they are generally monogamous. However, they may replace a mate that they have lost. They breed every 1 to 2 years. In their natural habitat, they nest in the hollow trunks of dead palm trees or cavities (natural or excavated by other birds) in tall trees high up to avoid predation. The female will lay 1-3 eggs and are incubated for 25-28 days. The hatchlings are blind, featherless and completely dependent on parental care at birth. For the first week, the female alone feeds the young through regurgitation and after that time, the male will usually assist. The first down feathers appear around 8 days after hatching and the first pin feathers emerge after 3 weeks. The chicks open their eyes at around 15 days. Both parents are very protective of their young and aggressively defend them against intruders. The young fledge the nest when they are about 90 days old and are independent at about 20 weeks.
The Green-winged Macaw currently is not classified as endangered. However, they have disappeared from part of their former range in Panama and are extinct in some parts of its range including Argentina. Largely a forest dwelling species, Green-winged Macaws are under pressure from deforestation and human population growth. They are also a popular species in the pet trade, going easily for as much as US$1500 each. According to the IUCN Red List, the global population size of the Green-winged macaw has not been quantified, but it is believed to be large and is described as ‘frequent’ in at least parts of its range. Global population trends have not been quantified, there is evidence of a population decline, but the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e. declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations). For these reasons, the Green-winged Macaw is classified as a species “of Least Concern”.
Photos of the Green-winged Macaws were taken at Parque das Aves - Foz do Iguacu - Parana.
