Pale-billed Hornero

About the Pale-billed Hornero

The bay hornero or pale-billed hornero (Furnarius torridus) is a species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and possibly Ecuador. The bay hornero was originally described as a species but some early 20th century authors treated it as a subspecies of the pale-legged hornero (F. leucopus). Since the 1930s most taxonomists have again treated it as a species and early 2010s genetic data confirmed that treatment. However, even as late as 1973 one author considered it a color morph of the pale-legged.

The bay hornero is monotypic. The bay hornero is 16 to 19 cm (6.3 to 7.5 in) long and weighs about 53 g (1.9 oz). It is a stout hornero with a long and nearly straight bill. The sexes' plumages are alike. Adults have a dull buffy white supercilium. Their crown and nape are grayish brown. Their back, rump, uppertail and wing coverts, and tail are chestnut brown ("bay"). Most of their wing is also chestnut brown, with a small area of pale rufous on the inner primaries. Their throat is white with dark tawny brown sides. Their breast is dark tawny brown, their flanks buffy... Wikipedia →