Lined Seedeater
Sporophila lineola
Very small finchlike bird with a short stubby bill. Males are mostly black with a white belly. Note the male’s white crown and large white mustache. Females are dull and plain brown and are difficult to separate from the Lesson’s Seedeater of Amazonia. Found in grasslands and shrubby areas; often seen in large flocks, especially on migration.
Identification
The lined seedeater (Sporophila lineola) is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, pastureland, and heavily degraded former forest.
Taxonomy
The lined seedeater was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Loxia lineola. Linnaeus mistakenly specified the "habitat" as Asia; the type locality was subsequently designated as the state of Bahia in Brazil. The specific epithet lineola is Latin meaning "little line" (a diminutive of linea meaning "line"). The lined seedeater is now assigned to the genus Sporophila that was introduced by the German ornithologist Jean Cabanis in 1844. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.
- Scientific name
- Sporophila lineola
- Authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Thraupidae
- Genus
- Sporophila
Range and habitat
Breeding range: SA : ne, s Brazil to n Argentina. Non-breeding range: to n South America e of Andes.
- Breeding range
- SA : ne, s Brazil to n Argentina
- Non-breeding range
- to n South America e of Andes
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
Migration pattern: Complete migrants.
Conservation
Population trend: stable.
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Large-billed Seed-Finch
Sporophila crassirostris
As the name suggests, this seed-finch has a truly massive bill – much larger than any seedeater. Male is all black with a small white wing patch. Bill is pale whitish or silvery. Female is brown with a dark bill. Very similar to Great-billed Seed-Finch, which is slightly larger; thankfully there is limited range overlap. Occurs in lowlands, primarily in scrubby or grassy fields and marshes. Uncommon.
Brown Cacholote
Pseudoseisura lophotes
Large ovenbird with rusty-brown plumage, a long crest, and piercing yellow eyes. Found in deciduous forest, second growth, and open woodland. Often also encountered in wooded urban areas like gardens and parks, where it mostly forages on the ground. The song is usually given as an unmusical duet.
Short-toed Snake-Eagle
Circaetus gallicus
Large, slightly ungainly raptor with long and very broad wings, a shortish tail, and a conspicuously big head. Pale belly and underwings contrast with the darker head in most adults, but juveniles have pale heads. All age groups have a tendency to look a bit disheveled. On perched birds look for the owl-like face and unfeathered legs. Hunts over open areas, spending lots of time hovering with rowing wingbeats into the wind.
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