Habitat
Scrub, pastures and arable fields, gallery forest, and urban areas, often (but not always) near water. Mainly from sea level - 800 m, but locally to 2,700 m.
Pale-legged Hornero (Furnarius leucopus) [XC257071]
by Jeremy Minns from San Mart\u00edn: Upaquihua, ca. 27 km S of Tarapoto, Peru (duet)
Pale-legged Hornero (Furnarius leucopus) [XC96533]
by pedroteia from riacho do olho d\u00e1gua mago-P\u00e3o de A\u00e7\u00facar-Alagoas-Brasil, Brazil (song)
Subspecies
Furnarius leucopus (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) was previously split into Pale-legged Hornero (Furnarius leucopus) and Furnarius cinnamomeus following Stotz et al. (1996), but this treatment is no longer adopted, following SACC (2005).
Has been treated as conspecific with Pale-billed Hornero (Furnarius torridus), but the two occur sympatrically in north-eastern Peru. Several subspecies possibly represent separate species, but their songs all sound superficially very similar, and quantitative analysis is needed before determining potential splits. In particular, cinnamomeus, with which described form pallidus (La Libertad, in Peru) is synonymized, perhaps worthy of full species rank, while longirostris (with endoecus) may be part of that possible species or itself a distinct species. Also, tricolor has sometimes been treated as a separate species. Otherwise, subspecies araguaiae, described from just a few specimens from few localities, possibly represents only intergradation between tricolor and assimilis; taxonomic status tentatively maintained pending further analysis.
Proposed subspecies exilis (northern Colombia), purportedly more richly coloured than others in Colombia, considered not diagnosable.
The following 7 subspecies are recognised:
longirostris Swainson, 1837 - Northern Colombia (Córdoba east to lower Magdalena Valley) and north-western Venezuela (north-western Zulia east to western Falcón, north-western Lara and Carabobo). Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Caribbean Hornero (Furnarius longirostris).
endoecus Cory, 1919 - Northern Colombia (lower and middle Magdalena Valley) and western Venezuela (southern Zulia). Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Caribbean Hornero (Furnarius longirostris).
leucopus Swainson, 1837 - Northern Brazil (R Negro, R Branco) and south-western Guyana.
cinnamomeus (Lesson, 1844) - Western Ecuador (southern from western Esmeraldas) and north-western Peru (south to northern Ancash). Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Pacific Hornero (Furnarius cinnamomeus).
tricolor Giebel, 1868 - Eastern Peru (Amazonas south to Puno) and western Brazil (east to western Pará, south to northern Mato Grosso) south to central Bolivia (Santa Cruz).
araguaiae Pinto & Camargo, 1952 - South-central Brazil (R Araguaia and R das Mortes in eastern Mato Grosso, possibly also western Goiás).
assimilis Cabanis & Heine, 1860 - Eastern and southern Brazil (Maranhío east to Pernambuco, south to Bahia and southern Mato Grosso) and extreme south-eastern Bolivia (south-eastern Santa Cruz).
BirdLife International Species Factsheet