Chestnut-bellied Seedeater (Sporophila castaneiventris)

Identification & Behavior: ~11 cm (4.3 in). The male Chestnut-bellied Seedeater is mostly bluish-gray. The throat and center of the underparts are chestnut. The female is olive-brown overall with warmer underparts. The bill in both sexes is black. It forages in open areas with scattered shrubs as well in grasslands, fallow agricultural fields, and river edges. The similar Dark-throated Seedeater and Tawny-throated Seedeater are rare non-breeding visitors to southeast Peru. Female Sporophila seedeaters are readily identified by the males that accompany them.

Status: The Chestnut-bellied Seedeater is common and widespread in Amazonia where it is known to range up to 1400 m along the foothill of the Andes. It also occurs in Co, Ec, Br, and Bo.

Name in Spanish: Espiguero de Vientre Castaño.

Sub-species: Chestnut-bellied Seedeater (Sporophila castaneiventris), Cabanis, 1849.

Meaning of Name: Sporophila: Gr. sporos= seed and philos= lover. castaneiventris: L. castanea= chestnut, castaneus= chestnut-brown and venter, ventris= belly. .

See more of the Family Thraupidae