White-headed Brush-Finch (Atlapetes albiceps)

Identification & Behavior: ~16.5 cm (6.4 in). The White-headed Brush-Finch is overall gray with a pale center of the belly. The head is mostly white with blackish crown and nape. It has a black malar stripe.  It has a conspicuous white wing speculum. The White- White-headed Brush-Finch forages in semi-humid scrub and forest edges. It is similar to the White-winged Brush-Finch but is distinguished by a largely white head.

Status: The White-headed Brush-Finch is common in scrub and understory of semi-humid and deciduous forests of the west slope of the Andes at elevations ranging of nearly sea level up to 1400 m. It also occurs in Ec.

Name in Spanish: Matorralero de Cabeza Blanca.

Sub-species: White-headed Brush-Finch (Atlapetes albiceps), (Taczanowski), 1884.

Meaning of Name: Atlapetes: Gr. myth. Atlas, a Titan king who was changed into a mountain and petes= flier, to fly. albiceps: L. albus= white and ceps= headed.

See more of the Family Passerellidae