plantcutter

bird

Also known as: Phytotomidae

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Article History

plantcutter, any of three species of South American birds of the family Phytotomidae (order Passeriformes), with finely serrated, stout bills used for snipping off tender shoots, buds, and fruit. In some areas plantcutters do much harm to gardens and orchards. With their broad, squared tails, they resemble streak-backed finches. Males are strongly tinged with reddish brown—especially in the red-breasted, or white-tipped, plantcutter (Phytotoma rutila), common from the Patagonian prairies to the uplands of Bolivia. Other species are found in Peru, Argentina, and Chile.