Blue-black Grassquit (Volatinia jacarina)

Identification & Behavior: ~10.5 cm (4.1 in). The male Blue-Black Grassquit can be solid blue-black (splendens) Amazonia or blue-black with brown blotches (peruviensis) west of the Andes. The female is brown above and pale with dusky brown streaks below. The juvenile is similar to the female. The female is similar to a female Chestnut-throated Seedeater and Drab-Seedeater but is distinguished by having heavily streaked underparts and sharp pointy bill.

Status: The Blue-Black Grassquit is common in the coastal lowlands and the Maranon Drainage. It is also common in Amazonia where is known to occur up to 2200 m along the foothill of the Andes. It also occurs in Co, Ec, Br, Bo, and Ch.

Name in Spanish:Semillerito Negro Azulado.

Sub-species: Blue-black Grassquit (Volatinia jacarina splendens), (Vieillot), 1817.  Mexico (S from S Sonora, Sinaloa, Durango, S Tamaulipas and E San Luis Potosí) and Belize S through most of Central America to Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas, and the Amazon Basin; also Trinidad, Tobago, and Grenada.
(Volatinia jacarina jacarina), (Linnaeus), 1766.  S & E Brazil (S from Mato Grosso and Maranhão) S to SE Peru, E Bolivia, Paraguay and N Argentina (S to Mendoza, Córdoba and N Buenos Aires).
(Volatinia jacarina peruviensis), (Peale), 1848.  W Ecuador, W Peru and NW Chile.

Meaning of Name: Volatinia: Spanish volatín= acrobatic; based on “Volatin” of de Azara 1802-1805. jacarina: Tupí name Jacarini she who flies up and down, for a type of finch.

See more of the Family Thraupidae