Black-headed Hemispingus (Pseudospingus verticalis)

Order: Passeriformes Family: Thraupidae | IUCN Status: Least Concern

black-headed_hemispingus
Age: Adult | Sex: Unknown | Loc. Eastern Andes, Colombia

black-headed_hemispingus
Age: Adult | Sex: Unknown | Loc. Eastern Andes, Ecuador

black-headed_hemispingus
Age: Adult | Sex: Unknown | Loc. Eastern Andes, Colombia

black-headed_hemispingus
Age: Adult | Sex: Unknown | Loc. Northeast Andes, Peru


Identification & Behavior: ~14 cm (5.5 in). The Black-headed Hemispingus has slaty-gray upperparts and lighter gray underparts. The head is black with a brown median stripe on the head. The undertail coverts are rusty. The immature bird has whitish throat and the rest of the underparts. The iris is pale yellow. It forages in the canopy of humid montane forest almost always in the company of mixed-species flocks. The Black-headed Hemispingus ranges only on the north and west side of the Marañon Valley and does not overlap with the similar Drab Hemispingus.

Status: The Black-headed Hemispingus is common in montane forests of the east slope of the Andes on the north and west side of the Marañon Valley at elevations ranging between 2700-2950 m. It also occurs in Co and Ec.

Name in Spanish: Hemispingo de Cabeza Negra.

Sub-species: Black-headed Hemispingus (Pseudospingus verticalis), (Lafresnaye), 1840.

Meaning of Name: Pseudospingus: Gr. Pseudos= false and spingos= finch. verticalis: L. vertex, verticis= crown of the head, verticalis= crowned.

Formerly known as Hemispingus verticalis.

See more of the Family Thraupidae   peru aves

Distribution Map
black-headed_hemispingusVoice


References:

    • Species range based on: Schulenberg, T. S., D. F. Stotz, and L. Rico. 2006. Distribution maps of the birds of Peru, version 1.0. Environment, Culture & Conservation (ECCo). The Field Museum.  http://fm2.fieldmuseum.org/uw_test/birdsofperu on 03/01/2016.