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.
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
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Gray-headed Elaenia
Myiopagis caniceps
Small flycatcher found in humid forest in lowlands and lower mountain slopes. Male is gray with paler underparts and dark wings with white wingbars. Female looks quite different with olive upperparts and yellowish underparts. She is very similar to Forest Elaenia, but has a paler and cleaner (not mottled) breast. Gray-headed Elaenia is also very similar to Amazonian Elaenia, but note its more southerly range. In areas where their ranges meet, identification may have to be confirmed by voice, though Gray-headed Elaenia usually shows a contrasting pale white or yellow eye. Typical song is a rapid, slightly descending trill, often preceded by one or more clear whistles. Usually stays high in the forest, often in the canopy.
Buru Dwarf-Kingfisher
Ceyx cajeli
A little kingfisher with a bright orange bill, an orange blob on the forehead, peach underparts, and dark blue upperparts with a bright blue stripe down them. Juvenileis darker and less blue above, with a dark-based, pale-tipped bill. Inhabits forest understory, sometimes near streams. Confined to Buru, where it is the only kingfisher with an orange bill. Orange underside distinguishes it from all other local kingfishers except the dark-billed Common Kingfisher. A little-known, recently described species. The call remains undescribed.
Scimitar-winged Piha
Lipaugus uropygialis
Rare cotinga found along the east slope of the Andes in Bolivia and southern Peru. Plumage is mostly gray with chestnut flanks and rump. Its oddly shaped wings are usually not evident in the field. Inhabits middle levels of humid forest, and sometimes joins mixed-species flocks. Usually silent, but gives soft squeals and clucks on rare occasions.
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