One of an ornithological series about passerine birds around the world, this particular bird finder, dedicated to thornbirds, says that the Phacellodomus  genus of thornbirds in the family of Furnariidae, and are found in woodlands, shrublands, and grasslands, often near water, in South America. Elsewhere in the world, thorn birds are known for their unique nesting habits that involve building nests on the branches of acacia trees using thorns. These birds inhabit arid regions across Africa, Australia, and Asia, & certainly do not self-immolate on thorny bushes to sing some wondrous swansong as they die of their injuries, according to some myth or other. 

Forever to remain

@courtenay Didn't know you were (secretly?) a St Kilda supporter, Wagga. 

  Who? Moi?  

In distant days long ago when my own family still lived in the St George area of Sydney, and I was just a high school girl, its local Rugby League club would sing a song, When the Saints come marching in, to cheer it on to win 13 Grand Finals in a row, and we'd recite a Shakespearean speech, something like "Once more dear friends, once more, Or we will close the breach with our [English? examination? No, Kogarah!] dead". That speech from Henry V ended with "Cry God for King Harry, England and....SAINT GEORRGE!!!" Nowadays the one-time Saints have become the Dragons.