Wedge-tailed Grass-Finch (Emberizoides herbicola)

Identification & Behavior: ~19 cm (7.4 in). The Wedge-tailed Grass-Finch has greenish upperparts with variable dusky streaking. The bill is thick and mostly yellow. The sides of the head and underparts are grayish. The tail is long and graduated ending in sharp or wispy tips. It forages in grasslands. The thick yellow bill and long tail make it unmistakable but see Grassland Sparrow.

Status: The Wedge-Tailed Grass-Finch is uncommon and very local occurring in specific locations on the east slope of the Andes at elevations ranging between 800-1450 m. It also occurs in Co, Br, and Bo.

Name in Spanish: Sabanero Cola de Cuña.

Sub-species: Wedge-tailed Grass-Finch (Emberizoides herbicola sphenurus), (Vieillot), 1818.   locally in Colombia, S Ecuador and N Peru.
(Emberizoides herbicola herbicola), (Vieillot), 1817.  E Bolivia (Beni, La Paz, Santa Cruz and Chuquisaca), C, E & S Brazil (Mato Grosso E to Pernambuco, S to Rio Grande do Sul), Paraguay, N Argentina (Formosa and Misiones S to Entre Ríos and N Santa Fe) and N Uruguay (Rivera).

Meaning of Name: Emberizoides: Genus Emberiza, Linnaeus, 1758 and Gr. oides= resembling.
herbicola: L. herba= grass and cola, colere= dweller, to dwell.

See more of the Family Thraupidae