Black-and-white Seedeater (Sporophila luctuosa)

Identification & Behavior: ~11 cm (4.3 in). The male Black-and-White Seedeater is all black with a white belly and wing speculum. The bill is bluish-gray. It has a white crescent below the eye. The male in basic plumage is brown with blotches of black and pale belly. The female is olive brown (lighter on the underparts) with a vestigial white wing speculum and dusky bill. The juvenile looks like a female. It forages in the shrubbery of forest edges, fallow agricultural fields, and agricultural hedges. The male is similar to the Yellow-bellied Seedeater but is distinguished solid black upperparts, white wing speculum, and white crescent below the eye. The female is distinguished by other females seedeater by a small size and vestigial white wing speculum. Overall, female Sporophila seedeaters are readily identified by the males that accompany them.

Status: The Black-and-White Seedeater is an uncommon resident along the east slope of the Andes at elevations ranging between 1400-3200 m. It also occurs in the Marañon Drainage and extreme northwest Peru in Tumbes. The Black-and-White seedeater is rare in Amazonia where it occurs as non-breeder. It also occurs in Co, Ec, Br, and Bo.

Name in Spanish: Espiguero Negro y Blanco.

Sub-species: Black-and-white Seedeater (Sporophila luctuosa), (Lafresnaye), 1843.

Meaning of Name: Sporophila: Gr. sporos= seed and philos= lover. luctuosa: L. luctus= mourning, lugere= to mourn, luctuosus= mournful.

See more of the Family Thraupidae