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Freckle-breasted thornbird
Conservation status
	; Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Furnariidae
Genus:	Phacellodomus
Species:	P. striaticollis
Binomial name
	Phacellodomus striaticollis; (d'Orbigny & Lafresnaye, 1838)
Synonyms
	Anumbius striaticollis

The freckle-breasted thornbird (Phacellodomus striaticollis) is a species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae.^[2] It is found in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and possibly Paraguay.^[3]

Taxonomy and systematics

The freckle-breasted thornbird was first described by Alcide d'Orbigny and Frédéric de Lafresnaye in 1838, from Uruguay.^[4]

The freckle-breasted thornbird is monotypic.^[2] However, what is now the spot-breasted thornbird (P. maculipectus) was long considered a subspecies of it, but they are not closely related. The freckle-breasted and greater thornbird (P. ruber) are sister species.^[5]

Description

The spot-breasted thornbird is 16 to 20 cm (6.3 to 7.9 in) long and weighs about 24 to 27 g (0.85 to 0.95 oz). It is a medium-sized thornbird. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have an indistinct light brownish supercilium that extends beyond the eye and a very narrow dark brown stripe behind the eye on an otherwise light brownish face. Their crown is brownish chestnut with whitish spots, their back dull reddish brown, and their rump and uppertail coverts a slightly paler reddish brown. Their wings are mostly shades of brown with darker brown primary coverts and flight feathers with rufous edges and dusky tips. Their tail's central pair of feathers are dull rufescent brown and the rest dull rufous. Their throat is dingy whitish, their breast light brownish with pale streaks and dark rufous speckles, their belly light brownish white, and their flanks and undertail coverts dull gray-brown. Their iris is yellow to creamy buff or pale orange, their maxilla blackish to brownish, their mandible gray, and their legs and feet gray to greenish gray. Juveniles have a less rufescent back than adults.^[6]^[7]^[8]

Distribution and habitat

The freckle-breasted thornbird is found in northern Argentina between the provinces of Formosa and Buenos Aires, in Brazil from Paraná state south, and in most of Uruguay.^[6] It possibly also occurs in Parguay; the South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society has only sight records from that country and so treats it as hypothetical there.^[3] The species inhabits a variety of landscapes, almost always near water. These include thickets along watercourses, gallery forest, the borders of marshes, and arid scrublands. In elevation it occurs from near sea level to 700 m (2,300 ft).^[6]^[7]^[8]

Behavior

Movement

The freckle-breasted thornbird is a year-round resident throughout its range.^[6]

Feeding

The freckle-breasted thornbird feeds on a wide variety of arthropods including beetles, grasshoppers, and scale insects. It usually forages in pairs. It captures prey by gleaning from the ground or from vegetation as high as the forest's understorey.^[6]

Breeding

The freckle-breasted thornbird breeds in the austral spring and summer, roughly from August to February. It is monogamous and sometimes produces two broods in a season. It builds an oblong nest of thorny sticks that can be about 30 cm (1 ft) high and 50 cm (2 ft) long, and lines an interior chamber with soft plant material. It hangs the nest near the end a tree branch, usually 1 to 3 m (3 to 10 ft) above the ground, and often over water. The clutch size is usually three or four eggs but can be two or five. The incubation period is about 16 days and fledging occurs about 12 to 13 days after hatch. Details of parental care are not known.^[6]

Songs and calls

Listen to freckle-breasted thornbird on xeno-canto

Vocalization

The freckle-breasted thornbird's song "starts with one to several ascending low notes, sometimes hesitating, followed by 3–4 loud, shrill descending monotonic notes that end abruptly, 'psep, psep, psep-kleek, kleek, kleek' ". Its alarm call is "a series of squeaky ticking notes".^[6]

Status

The IUCN has assessed the speckle-breasted thornbird as being of Least Concern. It has a large range and an unknown population size that is believed to be stable. No immediate threats have been identified.^[1] It is considered uncommon to fairly common and occurs in several protected areas.^[6]

References

^ ^a ^b BirdLife International (2016). "Freckle-breasted thornbird Phacellodomus striaticollis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22702616A93883042. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22702616A93883042.en. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
^ ^a ^b Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2023). "Ovenbirds, woodcreepers". IOC World Bird List. v 13.2. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
^ ^a ^b Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, G. Del-Rio, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 31 May 2023. Species Lists of Birds for South American Countries and Territories. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCCountryLists.htm retrieved May 31, 2023
^ Hudson, William Henry (1889). Argentine Ornithology: A Descriptive Catalogue of the Birds of the Argentine Republic (Complete). Library of Alexandria. p. 289. ISBN 978-1-4655-4745-3. Archived from the original on 2018-02-15.
^ Derryberry, E. P., S. Claramunt, G. Derryberry, R. T. Chesser, J. Cracraft, A. Aleixo, J. Pérez-Emán, J. V. Remsen, Jr., and R. T. Brumfield. (2011). Lineage diversification and morphological evolution in a large-scale continental radiation: the Neotropical ovenbirds and woodcreepers (Aves: Furnariidae). Evolution 65(10):2973–2986. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1558-5646.2011.01374.x
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Remsen, Jr., J. V. and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Freckle-breasted Thornbird (Phacellodomus striaticollis), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.frbtho1.01 retrieved September 21, 2023
^ ^a ^b van Perlo, Ber (2009). A Field Guide to the Birds of Brazil. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 218. ISBN 978-0-19-530155-7.
^ ^a ^b de la Peña, Martín R.; Rumboll, Maurice (2001). Birds of Southern South America and Antarctica. Princeton Illustrated Checklists. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. pp. Plate 64. ISBN 0691090351.