Grassland Yellow-Finch (Sicalis luteola)

Identification & Behavior: ~12.5 (5 in). The Grassland Yellow-Finch has brownish upperparts streaked with dusky. The underparts are yellow but are variable across sub-species. The male has a yellow eyebrow and in the malar area. The female lacks yellow on the head. The juvenile is similar but duller to a female with dusky streaking. It forages on grasslands and at the edges of marshes in most of its disjunct range. It is smaller than other Yellow-Finches. In the coastal lowland see Raimondi’s Yellow-Finch.

Status: The Grassland Yellow-Finch is uncommon but distributed in disjunct populations in the high Andes, a few inter-Andean Valleys, and northwest Peru including part of the Marañon valley. It ranges at elevations between sea level to 3900 m. It also occurs in Co, Ec, Br, Bo, and Ch.

Name in Spanish: Chirigüe Común.

Sub-species: Grassland Yellow-Finch (Sicalis luteola bogotensis), Chapman, 1924.  Andes of Venezuela and E range in Colombia S through highlands of Ecuador to S Peru (Arequipa).
(Sicalis luteola luteiventris), (Meyen), 1834.  breeds in S Brazil (Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul), Uruguay, lowlands of N & C Argentina (Santiago de Estero and Corrientes S to Chubut) and C Chile (S Coquimbo S to Valdivia); winters N to S Peru (Cuzco and Puno), C & E Bolivia (La Paz, Beni and lowland Santa Cruz), C Brazil (Mato Grosso E to Bahia).

Meaning of Name: Sicalis: Gr. sikalis, sukallis, sukalidos= a small, black-headed bird, mentioned by Epicharmus. luteola: L. luteus= saffron-yellow, lutum= saffron. Luteolus= yellowish.

See more of the Family Thraupidae