Blue-black Grassquit
Volatinia jacarina
Fairly common little bird of weedy and brushy fields, farmland, and other open grassy areas in tropical lowlands and foothills. Note the very small size, brown plumage, and streaky breast, plus the pointed conical bill. Male’s blue-black breeding plumage is worn only in the summer wet season; molting birds and immatures are patchy blue-black and brown. In song display, male leaps into the air from grass stalk or fence, uttering a short buzzy phrase, repeated over and over.
Identification
Adult blue-black grassquits are 10.2 cm (4.0 in) long and weigh 9.3 g (0.33 oz). They have a slender conical black bill. The male is glossy blue-black, with a black tail and wings; the white inner underwing is visible in flight or display. Female and immature birds have brown upperparts and dark-streaked buff underparts.
Taxonomy
The blue-black grassquit was described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1766 in the twelfth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Tanagra jacarina. Linnaeus based his description on the "Jacarni" that was described in 1648 by the German naturalist Georg Marcgrave in his Historia Naturalis Brasiliae. The type locality is eastern Brazil. The specific epithet jacarina is derived from the Tupi language and was used for a type of finch. The blue-black grassquit is now the only species placed in the genus Volatinia and was introduced in 1850 by the German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach. The genus name is a diminutive of the Latin volatus meaning "flying".<p>Within the tanager family Thraupidae the blue-black grassquit is in the subfamily Tachyphoninae and is a member of a clade that contains the genera Conothraupis and Creurgops.<p>The blue-black grassquit was formerly placed with the buntings in the subfamily Emberizinae rather than with the tanagers in Thraupinae within an expanded family Emberizidae.<p>Three subspecies are recognised:
- Scientific name
- Volatinia jacarina
- Authority
- (Linnaeus, 1766)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Thraupidae
- Genus
- Volatinia
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Social monogamous, extra-pair fertilizations, intraspecific parasitism, and quasi-parasitism are commonly found. During the breeding season, males defend small territories, about 13,0 - 72,5 m2, dominant males are normally lighter. The male has a jumping display, often performed for long periods, which gives rise to the local name "johnny jump-up". This is accompanied by a persistent wheezing jweeee call, jumping several times in a minute. The extravagant display also has a cost of calling attention of the predator, thus displaying increased nest predation. Predation is the main cause of breeding failure, and predator vocalizations can cause an immune-related reaction to this species. Nests are small cups of rootlets (diameter about 7.5 cm) found in herbaceous vegetation 10–50 cm high, clustered at a landscape, and placed preferably at high complex habitat spots. Nests are built by both sexes.<p>Blue-black grassquits will often form flocks when not breeding. They eat seeds, mostly on the ground.
Conservation
- Population trend
- rising
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Gray Tinamou
Tinamus tao
Very large chicken-like bird, widespread across the Amazon basin, but nowhere common. Distinguished from other tinamous by entirely gray plumage with fine black barring on the upperparts and some white speckling on the head. Gray Tinamou is also larger than other large species such as Great and White-throated Tinamous. Favors areas of upland forest and is most often encountered by voice, a single, short hollow whistle given at long intervals.
Arabian Wheatear
Oenanthe lugentoides
A dark wheatear in which males and females are very different. Males are black above, with a dark-streaked whitish cap, and white below. Females have a dark brown back and lightly streaked paler underparts. Both sexes have a buff undertail and a black-and-buff tail with a “T” pattern. The tail pattern is conspicuous in flight, as are white panels in the outer wings. Found in dry, rocky areas, usually with at least some trees and shrubs. The song consists of short, musical sequences of whistles and chattering notes, which are repeated after short pauses. Separated from similar wheatears with overlapping ranges by the combination of rufous undertail, and white outer wing panels.
Flutist Wren
Microcerculus ustulatus
Tiny, mouse-like bird of tepui forest understory. Entirely dark rufous-brown with a stubby tail. Found only in humid, mossy forest on tepui slopes, mostly above 1000 meters, where it is difficult to see, staying close to the ground as it crawls over roots, rocks, and large branches. Usually encountered alone and does not follow mixed-species flocks. Most easily detected by its extraordinary song: a variable series of short, pure whistles, rising and falling but usually ending with several notes on the same pitch; humanlike and easily imitated. May pop into view in response to imitation or playback, bobbing nervously before disappearing. Could be confused with Tepui Wren, but is darker brown overall and lacks buffy eyebrow.
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