Golden-billed Saltator (Saltator aurantiirostris)

Identification & Behavior: ~20 cm (8 in). The Golden-billed Saltator is mostly gray with a black head and breast, white throat, and bold white superciliary that projects into a crescent around the ear. It shows a variable amount of rusty on the belly and vent areas. The bill in the adult is golden but may be brown in immature and juvenile birds. The tail is gray with bold white terminal tips. It is superficially similar to the Black-cowled Saltator, but the ranges of these two saltators are not known to overlap.

Status: The Golden-billed Saltator is fairly common in scrub habitats, hedgerows, and gardens on the west slope of the Andes and inter-Andean valleys at elevations ranging between 2100 – 4200 m. It also occurs in Br, Bo, and Ch.

Name in Spanish: Saltador de Pico Dorado.

Sub-species: Golden-billed Saltator (Saltator aurantiirostris iteratus), Chapman, 1927.  N Peru (temperate zones of Cajamarca, Amazonas, Libertad, and Ancash).
(S. a. albociliaris) (R. A. Philippi and Landbeck), 1861.  C & S Peru (subtropical and temperate zones from Ancash and Huánuco S to Puno and Tacna) and extreme N Chile (Arica).

Meaning of Name: Saltator: L. saltator, saltatoris dancer, saltare= to dance. aurantiirostris: L. aurantius orange-coloured and rostris, rostrum= billed, beak.

See more of the Family Thraupidae