Slaty Finch

Plump, medium-sized bird of mossy highland forests. Note red-orange bill, legs, and eyes. Plumage of both male and female are unique in range. Males are mostly greenish-gray above with contrasting brown wings and crown; they are gray below with a prominent red breast band merging into a yellow collar. Females are greenish above with a yellow nape patch, and white below with prominent green streaking from chin to belly. Found only in tepui highlands (above 1000 m) where it inhabits middle and upper levels of wet forests and seems to prefer those with heavy growth of mosses and epiphytes. As its name implies, eats fruit and is most reliably seen at fruiting trees and shrubs. Otherwise, pairs are unobtrusive, moving sluggishly between perches and sitting still for long periods; may sometimes follow mixed-species flocks. Distinctive song is a long (3–4 sec.), very high, thin whistle, falling then rising in pitch, and given at long intervals; pair contact calls are short peeping notes.

Breeding males are glossy black with purplish head and greenish sheen on body. Nonbreeding males have pale eyebrows and staring yellow eye. Females are plain dark brown and typically have dark eyes. Forages by walking on ground. Sometimes in mixed flocks with other blackbirds at feedlots. Also, walks along parking lots, golf courses, or roadsides. Females similar to Brown-headed Cowbird, but with longer, thinner bill and longer tail than cowbird.

This wren is found only on Clarión Island, which is located in the Pacific Ocean about 450 miles southwest of the tip of Baja California in Mexico. It is warm brown with slightly paler underparts, bars on the wings and tail, faint streaks on the face, and a pale eyering. It is the only wren on the island, and looks and sounds quite similar to the familiar House Wren of the mainland. It is fairly common and often seen around buildings.