Rufous Hornero

Furnarius rufus

The Rufous Hornero (Furnarius rufus) is a bird found in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay. Fields, towns and farms in southern South America. It eats insects and other small invertebrates and seeds and nuts. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.

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Scientific name	Furnarius rufus
Region	South America
Found in	Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay

🏡 Where the Rufous Hornero lives

Fields, towns and farms in southern South America.

🍽️ What it eats

🐛 Insects & bugs80%
🌰 Seeds & nuts20%

A rough guide to its diet over a year. Source: EltonTraits (Wilman et al. 2014).

Conservation status

LCNTVUENCREWEX

Least ConcernThere are plenty of these birds.

💡 It builds a round clay nest shaped like an old-fashioned oven.

Hear the Rufous Hornero

Recorded by Fabrício Grigolin (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), xeno-canto XC1103123. Trimmed to a few seconds.

Questions about the Rufous Hornero

Where does the Rufous Hornero live?

The Rufous Hornero lives in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay. Fields, towns and farms in southern South America.

What does the Rufous Hornero eat?

insects and other small invertebrates (about 80%), seeds and nuts (about 20%). These are rough shares of its diet over a year, from the EltonTraits database.

Is the Rufous Hornero endangered?

There are plenty of these birds. Its IUCN Red List category is Least Concern.

More birds from South America

Sources: IUCN Red List (via Wikidata), EltonTraits 1.0 (Wilman et al. 2014), GBIF sightings for countries, Wikipedia. Last updated 2026-10-19.