Greater Thornbird

Greater Thornbird

Phacellodomus ruber

Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
at Brasilia

In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%

30 Verified sightings at Brasilia
1,993 In all 4 parks From 2019 to 2026
February Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Greater Thornbird

The greater thornbird (Phacellodomus ruber) is a species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. The greater thornbird is monotypic. It and the freckle-breasted thornbird (P. striaticollis) are sister species.

The greater thornbird is 19 to 21 cm (7.5 to 8.3 in) long and weighs about 35 to 51 g (1.2 to 1.8 oz). It is heaviest and reddest thornbird. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have a mostly rufescent brown to grayish brown face with a paler supercilium and ear coverts and a whitish malar area. Their crown is reddish chestnut with pale streaks, their back rich reddish brown to olive-brown that sometimes becomes chestnut on the lower back, their rump a lighter rufescent brown, and their uppertail coverts chestnut. Their wings are a nearly uniform rufous-chestnut and their tail reddish chestnut. Their throat is whitish, their breast pale with a light brownish tinge, their belly whitish, and their undertail coverts light rufescent brown. Their iris is light yellow to orange, their maxilla blackish to dark grayish horn, their mandible... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Call0:48

Brazil · 2026

© JAYRSON ARAUJO DE OLIVEIRA · XC1163740 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Song0:15

Argentina · 2022

© Marcos E. Sosa · XC1001795 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Alarm call0:25

Brazil · 2015

© Juvêncio da Costa Nunes Neto · XC298312 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Iberá National Park 🇦🇷 Argentina
~60%
2 Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas 🇧🇷 Brazil
~30%
3 Emas National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
~20%
4 El Impenetrable National Park 🇦🇷 Argentina
~10%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Rosario 🇦🇷 Argentina
~30%
2 Asuncion 🇵🇾 Paraguay
~30%
3 Santa Cruz de la Sierra 🇧🇴 Bolivia
~20%
4 Campo Grande 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%
5 Brasilia 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%
6 Buenos Aires 🇦🇷 Argentina
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Greater Thornbird in Brasilia?

Rare

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Greater Thornbird sighting in Brasilia on a given day, based on 30 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 81st most-seen of the 141 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Greater Thornbird in Brasilia?

February, June and November

In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Greater Thornbird in Brasilia on a given day, against under 5% in March–May, July–October and December–January, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see a Greater Thornbird?

Between 8 and 11 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Greater Thornbird sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Brasilia the best place to see a Greater Thornbird?

5th of 6

Of the 6 cities where we can rate Greater Thornbird sightings, Brasilia ranks 5th at under 5%. The best odds are in Rosario (Argentina, about 30%), Asuncion (Paraguay, about 30%) and Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Bolivia, about 20%).

Where does the Greater Thornbird sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Greater Thornbird is recorded against all the birds logged in Brasilia (30 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

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