Black-faced Brush-Finch (Atlapetes melanolaemus)

Identification & Behavior: ~16.5 cm (6.5 in). The Black-faced  Brush-finch has blackish upperparts, tail, and sides of the head. The crown and nape are rufous. The throat is blackish.  The underparts are dingy yellow. It forages in dense shrubbery near the ground along forest edges and semi-open habitats. It may overlap with the similar Tricolored Brush-Finch and Vilcabamba Brush-Finch but is distinguished by having a blackish throat and dingy yellow rest of the underparts.

Status: The Black-faced Brush-Finch is fairly common in the understory of montane forests of the east slope of the Andes at elevations ranging between 1400-3300 m. It also occurs in Bo.

Name in Spanish: Matorralero de Cara Negra.

Sub-species: Black-faced Brush-Finch (Atlapetes melanolaemus), (P. L. Sclater and Salvin), 1879.

Meaning of Name: Atlapetes: Gr. myth. Atlas, a Titan king who was changed into a mountain and petes= flier, to fly. melanolaemus: Gr. melas, melanos= black and laimos= throat.

See more of the Family Passerellidae