Yellow-shouldered Grassquit
Loxipasser anoxanthus
A small seed-eating species of forest edges, open woodlands, and nearby weedy areas; usually found in groups of two to five birds. Both sexes have bright yellow-green shoulders and a buff vent, which are diagnostic but can be difficult to see. Otherwise, the Black-faced Grassquit is rather similar, but can be distinguished by its slimmer bill and duller back. Furthermore, male Yellow-shouldered Grassquits have an entirely black head, whereas black is limited to the face on the Black-faced Grassquit. The song is a series of four or five high-pitched buzzy notes that either rising or dropping in pitch, followed by one to three notes at another different pitch.
Taxonomy
The yellow-shouldered grassquit was formally described in 1847 by the English naturalist Philip Henry Gosse as the "Yellow-back finch" in his book The Birds of Jamaica. Gosse coined the binomial name Spermophila anoxantha. The species was moved to the genus Loxipasser by the naturalist Henry Bryant in 1866. The genus name combines the word Loxia introduced by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 for the crossbills with Passer introduced by Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760 for the sparrows. The specific epithet anoxanthus is formed from the Ancient Greek anō meaning "above" or "upperparts" with xanthos meaning "yellow". The yellow-shouldered grassquit is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.<p>Although the yellow-shouldered grassquit was traditionally placed with the buntings and New World sparrows in the family Emberizidae, molecular phylogenetic studies have shown that this species is a member of the subfamily Coerebinae within the tanager family Thraupidae.
- Scientific name
- Loxipasser anoxanthus
- Authority
- (Gosse, 1847)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Fringillidae
- Genus
- Loxipasser
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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A fairly large bird of lowland and foothill forest. Small for a hornbill. Bill fairly short with black bands, and with bare skin around the eyes and chin. Male has pale underparts and head with a black cheek, a pale buffy tail with a black tip, and pale blue facial skin. Female is entirely black with a buffy band through the center of the tail and darker blue facial skin. Rufous Hornbill occurs in some of the same areas, but has a red bill. Samar Hornbill’s voice is a short, medium-pitched honk, reminiscent of a squeaky toy, often given in rapid series.
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Brown-capped Babbler
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Small brown babbler, with intense cinnamon underparts and a clear cut blackish brown cap. A terrestrial species occurring on or near the ground in forests, forest edge and nearby scrub and thickets in wooded areas, where typically encountered as pairs. Bold cap and underpart coloration make this distinctive in limited range on Sri Lanka. Repetitive song is a three note whistle “wit-wi-yoo”, ascending at the start and descending at the end. Other more complex warbles are given including an excited series of untidy, downslurred whistles.
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