[2] The band-tailed hornero has two subspecies, the nominate F. f. figulus (Lichtenstein, MHC, 1823) and F. f. pileatus (Sclater, PL & Salvin, 1878).

Subspecies F. f. pileatus has much a darker brown crown and ear coverts and more black on the tail than the nominate.

F. f. figulus is found in eastern Brazil from Maranhão east to the Atlantic and south into Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo states.

These include woodlands, scrublands in deforested areas, pastures, the edges of marshes, and urban and suburban gardens and parks.

It forages singly or in pairs while walking on the ground, turning over leaves and twigs to glean its prey.

It makes an open cup of grass and other plant fibers lined with feathers and hair at the base of palm leaves, in a bromeliad, or occasionally in a crevice in a building.

The band-tailed hornero's song is a "series of 3-20 high, very loud staccato notes 'djip-djip--' "[4] that decelerate and descend in pitch.

[1] Its population is thought to be small in part because of the patchy nature of its habitat, though the nominate subspecies is expanding its range.