Rose-bellied Bunting
Passerina rositae
Beautiful bunting found very locally in foothills on Pacific slope of southern Mexico; endemic. Occurs in brushy woodland and edge, often in canyons with permanent water. Found singly or in small groups feeding mainly in seeding grasses and at all levels in fruiting trees and bushes. Male unmistakable: electric blue and rose-pink with a broken white eyering. Female much drabber but has broken white eyering and variable pink blush to underparts.
Identification
The rose-bellied bunting is 13.5 to 14.5 cm (5.3 to 5.7 in) long and weighs 19.5 to 20.5 g (0.69 to 0.72 oz). The adult male's crown is purplish-blue, and it is electric blue on the rest of its upperparts that fades from darker to lighter towards the tail. Its chin is grayish, the throat and chest blue, and the belly and vent area salmon pink. The adult female's head and upperparts are gray-brown with a bluish tinge at the rump. Its undersides are pinkish buff, warmer on the throat becoming paler towards the lower belly.
Taxonomy
The rose-bellied bunting is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Passerina rositae
- Authority
- (Lawrence, 1874)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Cardinalidae
- Genus
- Passerina
Range and habitat
The rose-bellied bunting's core range is a narrow strip along the Pacific slope of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in eastern Oaxaca and western Chiapas. There is one additional record further east in Chiapas, in El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve. It inhabits arid to semiarid thorn forest, moister gallery forest, and swamp forest. In elevation it ranges from 180 to 800 m (590 to 2,620 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: stable.
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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