Bird Guide

Crested Hornero vs Pale-legged Hornero

Crested Hornero (Furnarius cristatus)

Crested Hornero

Furnarius cristatus

Small26 gShrubland

The crested hornero is 14 to 15 cm (5.5 to 5.9 in) long and weighs 26 to 29 g (0.92 to 1.0 oz). It is a small hornero with the shortest bill of its genus. Its most distinctive feature is its crest, which is also unique among horneros. The sexes' plumages are alike. Adults have a faint pale supercilium and dull brownish malar area and ear coverts; the last have indistinct darker edges. Their forehead is rufescent and their crown and its crest duller clay-brown. Their back and rump are dull tawny-rufous and their uppertail coverts are rufous. Voice: The crested hornero's song is "an explosive staccato burst of loud, piercing whistled notes tailing off towards end". Its call is "jwee-t-t-t-t-t-t-t".

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: (c) Nicolas Olejnik, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Nicolas Olejnik · cc-by
Pale-legged Hornero (Furnarius leucopus)

Pale-legged Hornero

Furnarius leucopus

Small55 gShrubland

The pale-legged hornero is 15 to 18 cm (5.9 to 7.1 in) long and weighs about 37 to 49 g (1.3 to 1.7 oz). It is a medium-sized hornero with a long and nearly straight bill. The sexes' plumages are alike. Adults of the nominate subspecies F. l. leucopus have a wide whitish supercilium, brownish gray ear coverts, and a tawny-rufous malar area. Their crown is dark rufescent brown. Their back, rump, and uppertail coverts average bright orange rufous but vary between tawny rufous and rufous amber. Their tail is chestnut. Voice: The pale-legged hornero's song is a "long series of loud, explosive, piercing, staccato notes, which decelerates and descends in pitch...rendered PIPIPI'PI'pi'pi-pi-pi-pi-pi pee pee pu". Its calls are "a loud, rich, scratchy or reedy chet or kyeek, or a descending cheeop".

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Pale-legged Hornero
Recorded by Niels Krabbe · Call · Morona-Santiago: e-slope Cord. de Cutucú: Uuntsuants, Ecuador · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: André Ribeiro Cardoso · CC BY 4.0

Where you might meet both

Learn this pair in the BeakBrain App

Photo and call practice. Coming soon to iPhone and Android.

Play today's Daily Bird

Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Crested Hornero and Pale-legged Hornero.