Ovenbirds or furnariids are a large family of small suboscinepasserine birds found from Mexico and Central to southern South America. They form the family Furnariidae. This is a large family containing around 315 species and 70 genera. The ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapilla), which breeds in North America, is not a furnariid – rather it is a distantly related bird of the wood warbler family, Parulidae.
The ovenbirds are a diverse group of insectivores which get their name from the elaborate, vaguely "oven-like" clay nests built by the horneros, although most other ovenbirds build stick nests or nest in tunnels or clefts in rock.[1] The Spanish word for "oven" (horno) gives the horneros their name. Furnariid nests are always constructed with a cover, and up to six pale blue, greenish or white eggs are laid. The eggs hatch after 15 to 22 days, and the young fledge after a further 13 to 20 days.[2]
They are small to medium-sized birds, ranging from 9 to 35 cm in length.[2] While individual species often are habitat specialists, species of this family can be found in virtually any Neotropical habitat, ranging from city parks inhabited by rufous horneros, to tropical Amazonian lowlands by many species of foliage-gleaners, to temperate barren Andean highlands inhabited by several species of miners. Two species, the seaside and the surf cinclodes, are associated with rocky coasts.
Taxonomy and systematics
The woodcreepers (formerly Dendrocolaptidae) were merged into this family, following analysis of sequences.[3] While confirming the overall phylogenetic pattern, other scientists instead opted for maintaining the woodcreepers as a separate family, while splitting the ovenbirds (as traditionally defined) into two families, Furnariidae and Scleruridae.[4]
The cladogram below showing the subfamilies of the ovenbirds is based on a molecular genetic studies that revealed that Sclerurinae was the first group to diverge[5][6] The species numbers are from the list maintained by the International Ornithologists' Union (IOC).[7]
The phylogeny of the Furnariidae is now well understood thanks to multiple analyses of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA.[8][9][10][11][12] Among other discoveries, the classification of several genera had to be revised.[13][14][15] The taxonomic arrangement presented below is based on molecular genetic studies of ovenbird relationships.[4][16][17][12] However, because ovenbirds and woodcreepers are treated here as a single family some taxonomic ranks were modified. For more detail see "List of ovenbird species".
The phylogenetic tree shown below is based on a large-scale genetic 2020 study of the suboscines by Michael Harvey and collaborators.[11] The tawny tit-spinetail (Leptasthenura yanacencis) has been moved to the genus Sylviorthorhynchus, the sulphur-bearded spinetail (Cranioleuca sulphurifera) has been moved to the genus Limnoctites and its English name changed to the sulphur-bearded reedhaunter, and the white-bellied spinetail (Synallaxis propinqua) has been placed in the monotypic genus Mazaria.[27] These changes are included in the tree shown below. The remaining paraphyletic genera are flagged in the tree by an asterisk.
In 2009, the large ovenbird family was divided into tribes by Robert Moyle and collaborators. The tribes as defined in the 2009 article do not fit well with the revised taxonomy of Harvey and are not included here. For example, the tribe Furnariini as defined in the 2009 article is not monophyletic in the Harvey phylogeny.[4] The species numbers in the cladogram are from the list maintained by the International Ornithologists' Union (IOC).[7]
Furnariids boast a notable fossil record for a passerine family. Numerous fossils comprising multiple skeletal elements, including cranial remains, have facilitated the identification and description of five distinct fossil species. Among these, two have been classified within the extant genera Cinclodes and Pseudoseisura, while the remaining three belong into the extinct genus Pseudoseisuropsis. All fossil are of Pleistocene age.
^Remsen, J. V., Jr. 2003. Family Furnariidae (ovenbirds). Pages 162–357 in J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott and D. A. Christie eds. Handbook of the birds of the world, Vol. 8, broadbills to tapaculos. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
^ abWillis, Edwin O. (1991). Forshaw, Joseph (ed.). Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds. London: Merehurst Press. pp. 162–163. ISBN978-1-85391-186-6.
^Irestedt, Martin; Fjeldså, Jon; Johansson, Ulf S. & Ericson, Per G.P. (2002). "Systematic relationships and biogeography of the tracheophone suboscines (Aves: Passeriformes)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 23 (3): 499–512. doi:10.1016/S1055-7903(02)00034-9. PMID12099801.
^Irestedt, M.; J. Fjeldså & P. G. P. Ericson (2006). "Evolution of the ovenbird-woodcreeper assemblage (Aves: Furnariidae): major shifts in nest architecture and adaptive radiation". J. Avian Biol. 37 (3): 260–272. doi:10.1111/j.2006.0908-8857.03612.x.
^Chesser, R. T.; Barker, F. K. & Brumfield, R. T. (2007). "Fourfold polyphyly of the genus formerly known as Upucerthia, with notes on the systematics and evolution of the avian subfamily Furnariinae". Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 44 (3): 1320–1332. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2007.04.014. PMID17632018.
^Claramunt, Santiago; Derryberry, Elizabeth P.; Cadena, Carlos Daniel; Cuervo, Andrés M.; Sanín, Camilo; Brumfield, Robb T. (2013). "Phylogeny and classification of Automolus foliage-gleaners and allies (Furnariidae)". The Condor. 115 (2): 375–385. doi:10.1525/cond.2013.110198. S2CID59375772.
^ abClaramunt, Santiago (2014). "Phylogenetic relationships among Synallaxini spinetails (Aves: Furnariidae) reveal a new biogeographic pattern across the Amazon and Paraná river basins". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 78: 223–231. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2014.05.011. PMID24867462.
^Toni, E. P. (1977). "Un furnárido (Aves, Passeriformes) del Pleistoceno medio de la Provincia de Buenos Aires". Publicaciones del Museo Municipal de Ciencias Naturales de Mar del Plata Lorenzo Scaglia. 2: 141–147.
^Toni, E. P.; Noriega, J. I. (2001). "Una especie extinta de Pseudoseisura Reichenbach 1853 (Passeriformes: Furnariidae) del Pleistoceno de la Argentina: comentarios filogenéticos". Ornitologia Neotropical. 12: 29–44.
