Carrizal Seedeater
Amaurospiza carrizalensis
Small, chunky finch with thick gray bill. Male deep blue-black, female brown, both sexes with white underwings. Mostly found in pairs in the understory of spiny bamboo forest. Song a fast musical warble of four or six notes “pee PEEu pee PEEu peePEEuu.” Similar to Blue-black Grassquit, which is smaller with a more conical bill; also to Amazonian Grosbeak, which is larger with a bulkier bill. Little known, endemic to the southern lowlands of Venezuela.
Identification
The Carrizal seedeater is 12 cm (4.7 in) long and weighs 12 to 14 g (0.42 to 0.49 oz). The male is a glossy dark slaty blue that is darker on the face and underparts. The female's upperparts are warm brown and the underparts yellow-buff, darker on the flanks.
Taxonomy
The Carrizal seedeater was described based on three specimens collected in 2001. The researchers who determined that it was a new species, Miguel Lentino and Robin L. Restall, named it Carrizal blue seedeater, but the "blue" was dropped by taxonomic organizations to avoid conflict with what was then the blue seedeater (Amaurospiza concolor).
- Scientific name
- Amaurospiza carrizalensis
- Authority
- Lentino & Restall, 2003
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Cardinalidae
- Genus
- Amaurospiza
Range and habitat
The specimens of Carrizal seedeater were collected on Isla Carrizal in the Caroni River of northern Venezuela. Construction of the Tocoma Dam, which began in 2006, flooded the island. The species has since been found elsewhere in the Caroni River watershed. It is known only from stands of spiny Guadua and Ripidocladus species of bamboo in deciduous forest.
Behavior
The crops of the Carrizal seedeater specimens contained beetles and vegetable matter.<p>No information has been published about the Carrizal seedeater's breeding phenology.<p>The Carrizal seedeater's song is "a pleasant whistled warble, 'sweet sweet pit-swee pit-swoo'" [1].
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Shy brown dove of forests with dense understory. Wings and tail are dark brown, and the rest of the body is closer to tan. Males are boldly barred on the chest, and both sexes have a bronzy-green tinge to the nape. Seldom seen out in the open, this species is quick to flee when approached, flying strongly and quickly through dense vegetation. Appears longer-tailed than Spotted Dove and Turtle Dove, both when in flight and on the ground.
Philippine Falconet
Microhierax erythrogenys
A small raptor of foothill forest that favors exposed branches on emergent trees, often near rivers. Black above with a bluish sheen and a black base to the undertail that extends to the thighs and sides. The rest of the underparts are white, extending to the white cheeks. Unmistakable, as there are no other raptors of this size or birds with this color scheme. Voice is a descending, mouse-like squeak, “wiiuuu!”
Rose-faced Parrot
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Beautiful parrot found in Andean cloud forest in western Ecuador and western Colombia. Green with golden breast and neck, and a red face bordered with black. Nothing similar occurs in range. Most often encountered flying rapidly overhead in small flocks that give piercing shrieks. Feeds on fruiting trees, usually high in the canopy, but sometimes descends lower where there is abundant food.
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