Double-collared Seedeater (Sporophila caerulescens)

Identification & Behavior: ~11 cm (4.3 in). The male Double-collared Seedeater has gray upperparts. It has a dark throat bordered by white and a black band across the breast. The rest of the underparts are white. The female is olive above and brown below. The bill in the male is yellowish and dusky in the female. It forages in the shrubbery of forest edges, fallow agricultural fields, and hedges. The patterned throat superficially resembles that of a Lesson’s Seedeater or Lined Seedeater but is distinguished by gray upperparts and yellowish bill.  Female Sporophila seedeaters are readily identified by the males that accompany them.

Status: The Double-collared Seedeater is an Austral migrant to the southern half of the Peruvian Amazon generally present during the months of May through November. It is known to range up to 1000 m along the foothill of the Andes. The Double-collared Seedeater also occurs in Co, Ec, Br, and Bo.

Name in Spanish: Espiguero Doble Acollarado.

Sub-species: Double-collared Seedeater (Sporophila caerulescens caerulescens), (Vieillot), 1823.

Meaning of Name: Sporophila: Gr. sporos= seed and philos= lover. caerulescens: L. caeruleus= azure-blue, caerulescens, caerulescentis= bluish. .

See more of the Family Thraupidae