Caquetá Seedeater (Sporophila murallae)

Identification & Behavior: ~12.5 cm (5 in). The male Caqueta Seedeater has black upperparts with white wing bars. The head is black. The throat, sides of the neck, and rest of the underparts are white. It has a black pectoral band, white rump, and white wing speculum. The female is warm olive-brown with a black bill. It forages in the shrubbery of forest edges, mixed grassland, as well as edges of agricultural land. It does not overlap with the very similar Variable Seedeater. Generally, female Sporophila seedeaters are readily identified by the males that accompany them.

Status: The Caqueta Seedeater is fairly common in Amazonia where it appears restricted to Loreto and northern Ucayali. The status of this seedeater further south is unknown. It also occurs in Co, Ec, and Br.

Name in Spanish: Espiguero de Caquetá.

Sub-species: Caquetá Seedeater (Sporophila murallae), Chapman, 1915.

Meaning of Name: Sporophila: Gr. sporos= seed and philos= lover. murallae: Afert La Muralla (= La Murelia), Caquetá, Colombia.

See more of the Family Thraupidae