Phacellodomus rufifrons
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%
The rufous-fronted thornbird, or common thornbird, (Phacellodomus rufifrons) is a species of bird in the family Furnariidae. It is found in Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina, Ecuador, Paraguay, and Peru. The rufous-fronted thornbird's taxonomy is unsettled. The International Ornithological Committee (IOC), BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW), and the Clements taxonomy assign it these four subspecies:
The IOC, HBW, and Clements treat those taxa as the plain thornbird (P. inornatus). This article follows the four-subspecies model. The rufous-fronted thornbird is 16 to 17 cm (6.3 to 6.7 in) long and weighs about 18 to 31 g (0.63 to 1.1 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies P. r. rufifrons have a dull buff supercilium that continues past the eye, a dark brown stripe behind the eye,... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | El Impenetrable National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 2 | Serra da Canastra National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Chapada Diamantina National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 4 | Serra dos Órgãos National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 5 | Itatiaia National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 6 | Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 7 | Podocarpus National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santa Cruz de la Sierra | 🇧🇴 Bolivia | |
| 2 | Belo Horizonte | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Campo Grande | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 4 | Rio de Janeiro | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Rufous-fronted Thornbird sighting in El Impenetrable National Park on a given day, based on 96 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 58th most-seen of the 219 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July and September–October
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Rufous-fronted Thornbird in El Impenetrable National Park on a given day, against about 10% in March–April and August, the lowest months. Those are among El Impenetrable National Park's driest months, with about 50 mm of rain a month against 120 mm in March. December has too few records to rate.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Rufous-fronted 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.
Yes
Of the 7 parks where we can rate Rufous-fronted Thornbird sightings, El Impenetrable National Park has the highest daily chance: about 30%. Next come Serra da Canastra National Park (Brazil, about 20%) and Chapada Diamantina National Park (Brazil, about 10%).
Same genus: Phacellodomus
The closest relatives of the Rufous-fronted Thornbird that you can see in El Impenetrable National Park (genus Phacellodomus, Thornbirds) are Greater Thornbird (about 10%) and Little Thornbird (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Rufous-fronted Thornbird is recorded against all the birds logged in El Impenetrable National Park (96 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
