Tepui Brushfinch
Atlapetes personatus
Large, colorful sparrow of tepui highland forests. Geographically variable but always shows rufous head, olive-gray upperparts, and yellow breast and belly: a combination that renders it unmistakable in its limited range. Found in understory of humid forests in the tepui region, generally above 800 m. Single birds, pairs, or small family groups stay in dense cover and rummage through leaf litter or over mossy substrates, looking for seeds and insects. May emerge from cover to forage on mossy limbs up to several meters high. Often observed with mixed-species flocks. Quite vocal and will sometimes approach to scold observers; calls include a dry chip and various indistinct contact notes, whereas song is a short, arresting series of whistled notes.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Atlapetes personatus
- Authority
- (Cabanis, 1849)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Passerellidae
- Genus
- Atlapetes
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Rock Pipit
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Plumage relatively dull and dark: grayish brown to grayish above with weak darker streaking; dingy whitish below with heavy and rather blurry dark streaking. Also note the dark legs (pink on smaller and buffier Meadow Pipit, which often occurs in coastal grassland adjacent to Rock Pipits). Song is a bland, repetitive, high-pitched series, often accelerating towards the end. Call a high, lisping, slightly harsh "ssiip", very similar to that of Water Pipit. Like other pipits, walks strongly and often pumps its tail a little. Found along rocky coasts; infrequent inland. Often seen on rocks and adjacent areas with short grass.
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