Brown Cacholote Pseudoseisura lophotes Scientific name definitions

Brown Cacholote is a large, impressive Furnariid of central and southern South America east of the Andes.  It can be found in dry scrub and woodland from southern Bolivia south to the northern reaches of Patagonia in the monte of Argentina.  The species is the largest cacholote, about the size of a typical Turdus thrush, warm brown overall with a dark, dusky crest and rufous rump and tail.  Though Brown Cacholote and Rufous Cacholote are allopatric in distribution, the two species are very similar in habits and vocalizations.

24–26 cm; 63–79 g. One of the largest furnariids, somewhat resembling a jay (Corvidae). Has rather uniform dull dark rufous face ; forehead dull dark reddish-brown; crown darker brown with darker feather margins, producing slightly streaked look, feathers elongated to form crest , hindcrown bright rufous (covered by crest feathers when flattened); upper back and vague collar rufous, rest of back duller with some greyish feather edges, rump bright rufous, uppertail-coverts slightly darker; wing-coverts dull dark rufous-brown with some paler tips, remiges dark fuscous brown with narrow pale brownish margins; tail slightly rounded, shafts stiffened basally and nearly lacking barbs at tips, dull dark rufous; throat bright cinnamon-rufous, blending to duller darker breast with increasingly conspicuous paler tips of feathers posteriorly, this pattern extending into belly and flanks, producing “frosted” look; lower belly, flanks and undertail-coverts more rufescent, longest undertail-coverts with broad pale tips; iris yellow to buff-yellow; upper mandible usually black with grey base, lower mandible light grey basally, blackish distally; tarsus and toes greyish-olive to dull greenish. Sexes alike. Juvenile has shorter crest, lightly mottled breast and belly, dull greenish iris. Race <em>argentina</em> described as darker throughout, with anterior crest feathers less grey-brown, more rufous, and narrower.

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Tropical deciduous forest, gallery forest edge, second-growth scrub; Chaco woodland and scrub, monte and espinilho (Prosopis-Acacia) woodland; urban parks and gardens. From near sea-level to 900 m.

Resident.

Reported dietary items are Coleoptera (including families Curculionidae, Scarabaeidae, Chrysomelidae, Carabidae), larval insects, large ants, also eggs of other birds (including domestic chickens), seeds, some fruit. Forages usually in pairs or in small single-species flocks. Gleans, probes and digs for arthropods in ground and leaf litter; flakes dung to search for arthropods underneath; occasionally hammers and pulls bark and leaf buds.

Song, usually as duet, a long, loud series of variably cacophonous, grating, coarse notes that gradually fades towards end, can last at least 15 seconds; call “krok”.

Season during austral spring-summer; eggs from late Sept to Feb, mean initiation date in W Argentina 19th Nov. Monogamous; probably pairs for life. Nest a large mass c. 50–150 cm long and 45–90 cm wide, weight 2·5–5 kg, main axis horizontal or diagonal, made of sticks (some up to 75 cm long, to 1 cm in diameter), external lateral entrance tube c. 30–40 cm long supported by horizontal branch, long feathers often incorporated into outside of nest, inner chamber 20–25 cm in diameter, often no lining, occasionally a few bits of plant material, small sticks or dung; placed 4–6 m above ground near crown of small tree (especially Prosopis), often isolated, with branches of tree incorporated into nest; frequently placed on previous years’ nests. Clutch 2–4 eggs, mean 2·6; incubation by both adults, period 18–20 days; both also feed chicks, nestling period 18–23 days; young remain in parental territory for 5–13 months, but not nest helpers. Success: 59% of eggs produce fledglings, with mean of 1·5 fledglings per clutch; last-hatched nestlings in broods of three usually die, as do all in broods of four; older pairs have significantly higher reproductive success; nest predation, mainly by white-eared opossum (Didelphis albiventris), main source of mortality.

Not globally threatened. Uncommon to fairly common throughout range. Occurs in several protected areas, e.g. Chancaní Natural Reserve, in Argentina.