What is a Trinca-Ferro?

The Trinca-Ferro is an extremely territorial Brazilian songbird and because of this the male sings loudly to demarcate its territory and ward off other males of its domain.

The male and female are identical and the singing is the only factor that distinguishes them. As males compete for the territory, one wants to sing louder than the other of course mainly to gain the attention of the females. Thus when a Trinca-Ferro begins to sing another then soon presents itself starting a fully fledged singing duel.

The bird is highly prized by breeders and is a constant target of smugglers of wild animals. The captive breeding requires special authorization from IBAMA, the Brazilian Government Ecological department, since this bird is part of the Brazilian fauna. It is recommended for those interested in raising this bird to buy only ringed specimens from certified breeders in order to prevent smuggling of birds. The reason for all this fuss is of course the big weekend past time in many parts of the Brazilian interior of betting on whose bird out sings the other. Competitions often start with up to 40 birds in a large room and the Males are gradually removed as they run out of song. This usually leaves a final showdown between the last two or three “Big macho males.” A stud long singing male can be worth up to UD$ 10,000 dollars to the right breeder.

Its natural habitat is the edge of the woods and is hardly being found in regions of dense forest preferring to live in more savanna type areas.