Tropeiro Seedeater
Sporophila beltoni
Plump seedeater with a thick yellow bill. Males are blue-gray with a paler vent and females are olive-brown. Found in tall grassland areas and open savanna near water. During the austral winter, migrates north to central Brazil.
Identification
The adult male is distinguished from the plumbeous seedeater by its larger size and bluish (rather than plumbeous) grey plumage, and from that and other Sporophila seedeaters, by having a robust, bright yellow beak with an arched culmen, and by vocalisations that include unique call notes.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Sporophila beltoni
- Authority
- Repenning & Fontana, 2013
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Thraupidae
- Genus
- Sporophila
Range and habitat
Tropeiro seedeaters breed in upland shrubby grasslands associated with the Araucaria forests of southern Brazil. They migrate northwards to spend the austral winter – the non-breeding season – in the Cerrado savannas of central Brazil. The range contains a narrow contact zone between the Tropeiro and plumbeous seedeaters, where the birds are segregated by habitat that contains little significant gene flow.
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Argya earlei
Brown babbler with a finely streaked back and crown. Also note bright yellow eyes and faint pale “moustache.” Social, usually encountered in flocks as they clamber about in lowland reedbeds, wet grassy areas, and scrub. Gives sparrow-like “chirrup” and sharp “pee-cheer.”
Cloud-forest Screech-Owl
Megascops marshalli
Small screech-owl known from relatively few sites along the east slope of the Andes from central Peru to Bolivia. The bold dark crescents that border its buffy facial disks separate it from Rufescent Screech-Owl and Cinnamon Screech-Owl. Also note the small ear tufts and star-shaped markings on the underparts. Inhabits lush, ephiphyte-laden cloud forest. Typical song is rapid series of soft whistles (“pu-pu-pu-pu-pu…”), slightly faster than Cinnamon Screech-Owl and lower-pitched than Rufescent Screech-Owl.
Cinnamon-throated Hermit
Phaethornis nattereri
Tiny hummingbird with a curved bill. Easily confused with other hermits, but note the cinnamon tinge to the underparts and the white-tipped central tail feathers. The Maranhao Hermit subspecies, considered by some authorities as a separate species, is a richer cinnamon color. Inhabits the interior of dry forest zones, including gallery forest, second growth, savanna, and caatinga woodland.
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