Family Furnariidae

Ovenbirds

Following the taxonomy applied to HBW Alive, derived from the recently published HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World, this family now contains species that were formerly considered to comprise the family Woodcreepers (Dendrocolaptidae). See link for information on this group.

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General

Small to medium-sized birds, most with short, rounded wings, often strong legs and feet, often long tail with minor to major strengthening of feather shafts; plumage mostly some shade of brown, ranging from greyish or blackish to olivaceous or reddish.
Neotropical Region.
All habitats.

10-26 cm.

69 genera, 333 species, 864 taxa.

36 species threatened;
none extinct since 1600.

Systematics

Regarding the family as a whole, Furnariidae can be characterized by extremes. At one end, it exhibits exceptional to unparalleled heterogeneity and diversity in nest architecture, structural morphology, foraging behaviour, habitat occupancy and physiological tolerance. At the opposite end, it...

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Morphological Aspects

Although Furnariidae is one of the most diverse families in the world in terms of bill and tail morphology (see below), its members share a general outward appearance that typifies the ovenbirds. The mostly brown plumage, the constant pattern themes such as prominent streaks, throat patches, a...

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Habitat

It would be far easier to discuss the habitats not occupied by members of the Furnariidae, rather than those in which they do occur. In fact, every terrestrial habitat in South America that supports primary productivity also has at least one species of ovenbird. Furnariids are found from the...

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General Habits

Broadly speaking, the furnariids are not conspicuous in their behaviour. Although they often adopt acrobatic postures when perching, they are generally rather skulking birds and tend to be wary. As a consequence, their general behaviour is not well understood.

So far as is known, all...

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Voice

Although many ovenbirds are known for their loud songs and frequent singing, pleasing melody is not their forte. Moreover, their voices are remarkably homogeneous for such a large group. One could perhaps randomly scramble the published epithets of “dry”, “harsh” and “shrill”, “accelerating”...

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Food and Feeding

Few other bird families of comparable species richness have diets so restricted to invertebrates, primarily arthropods. An almost complete absence of quantitative analyses, however, prevents any synthesis of...

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Breeding

For the vast majority of species in the Furnariidae, data on breeding are lacking. Furthermore, the species for which some details are known are not randomly distributed but, instead, are strongly clustered in two geographical regions, namely Costa Rica and eastern Argentina. In the former of...

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Movements

The vast majority of the species in the Furnariidae appear to be permanent residents within their ranges, and perhaps even within individual home ranges. In the absence of data on ringed birds and of year-round studies, however, this is largely an assumption based on a lack of evidence to the...

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Relationship with Man

With their dull plumage, unremarkable voices and often secretive or, at least, inconspicuous behaviour, it is no surprise that ovenbirds do not in general figure prominently in local cultures or legends. Representing yet another range in extremes in the Furnariidae, however, the...

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Status and Conservation

Of the 236 species of furnariid, 26, equivalent to 11%, are considered by BirdLife International to be globally threatened. The conservation status of three of these is regarded as Critical, with nine Endangered and 14 Vulnerable. In addition, the subspecies huancavelicae of the...

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General Bibliography

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Species list

List of species of the Ovenbirds (Furnariidae) family. Each species provides information on taxonomy, descriptive notes, voice, habitat, food and feeding, breeding, movements, status and conservation and bibliography.

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A detailed list of the species of the family is displayed to our subscribers, showing the following columns: Genus, Species, Common name, Conservation Status, Figure, and the Check mark. Above the table, a tiny search engine is displayed to facilitate the filtering of the species.

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Family Furnariidae

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