Glacier Finch (Idiopsar speculifer)

Identification & Behavior: ~18.5 cm (7.2 in). The White-winged Diuca-Finch is all gray with a pale center of the belly. The throat is white.  It has a white crescent below the eye and a large white wing speculum. Sexes are alike. It forages on the ground on open short grass with scattered bushes and shrubs. It is very similar to the White-throated Sierra-Finch but is distinguished by having a white wing speculum and a white crescent below the eye.

Status: The White-winged Diuca-Finch is common and restricted the west slope of the Andes and southern altiplano at elevations between 3950-4800 m. The White-winged Diuca-Finch also occurs in Bo and Ch.

Name in Spanish: Fringilo Glaciar.

Sub-species: White-winged Diuca-Finch (Idiopsar speculifer magnirostris), Carriker, 1935.  highlands of C Peru (Ancash to Junín and Huancavelica).
(Idiopsar speculifera speculifera), (d’Orbigny and Lafresnaye), 1837.  Andes of SC & S Peru (S from Arequipa, Cuzco, and Puno; probably also this race in Ayacucho and Apurímac), N Chile (Arica–Parinacota, and Tarapacá), W Bolivia (La Paz, Cochabamba, and NW Oruro), and NW Argentina (Jujuy).

Meaning of Name: Idiopsar: Gr. idios= peculiar, distinct and psar, psaros= starling. speculifer: L. speculum, speculi= mirror and fer, fera, ferre = bearing, to bear.

Formerly known as Diuca speculifera (2018)

See more of the Family Thraupidae