Phacellodomus rufifrons
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10%
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 |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Rufous-fronted Thornbird sighting in Itatiaia National Park on a given day, based on 29 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 264th most-seen of the 352 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Rufous-fronted Thornbird in Itatiaia National Park on a given day, against under 5% in March to January, the lowest months. That is one of Itatiaia National Park's wettest months, with about 290 mm of rain against 25 mm in July.
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.
5th of 7
Of the 7 parks where we can rate Rufous-fronted Thornbird sightings, Itatiaia National Park ranks 5th at under 5%. The best odds are in El Impenetrable National Park (Argentina, about 30%), Serra da Canastra National Park (Brazil, about 20%) and Chapada Diamantina National Park (Brazil, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Rufous-fronted Thornbird is recorded against all the birds logged in Itatiaia National Park (29 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.
