Black-billed Seed-Finch (Sporophila atrirostris)

Identification & Behavior: ~16 cm (6.2 in). The male Black-billed Seed-Finch is all black with a black and thick bill and a white wing speculum. The female is dark brown with a black to blackish bill. It forages in tall grass that grows at the edges of rivers and oxbow lakes. It is noticeably larger than the similar Large-billed Seed-Finch and Chestnut-bellied Seed-Finch.

Status: The Black-billed Seed-Finch is rare and local found in disjunct locations along the foothill of the Andes at elevations of up to 1200 m. It also occurs in Co, Ec, and Br.

Name in Spanish: Semillero de Pico Negro.

Sub-species: Black-billed Seed-Finch (Sporophila atrirostris atrirostris), (P. L. Sclater and Salvin), 1878.   locally in extreme S Colombia, E lowlands of Ecuador and E Andean slopes in N Peru (San Martín, Loreto, and Ucayali).
(Sporophila atrirostris gigantirostris), (J. Bond and Meyer de Schauensee), 1939.  SE Peru (Madre de Dios) and N & E Bolivia (Beni; isolated records in W & C Santa Cruz).

Meaning of Name: Sporophila: Gr. sporos= seed and philos= lover. atrirostris: L. ater= black and rostrum, rostris= beak, billed.

See more of the Family Thraupidae