Yellow-bellied Seedeater (Sporophila nigricollis)

Identification & Behavior: ~11.5 cm (4.5 in). The male Yellow-bellied Seedeater has olive-gray upperparts without a white wing speculum. The forehead, face, throat, and part of the breast are black. The bill is bluish gray. The belly is yellowish. The female is warm brown with a dusky bill and a pale center of the belly. It forages in the shrubbery of forest edges, fallow agricultural fields, and hedges. It is similar to the Black-and-White Seedeater in basic plumage but is distinguished by yellowish belly, olive upperparts, and no white wing speculum.

Status: The Yellow-bellied Seedeater is uncommon on the east slope of the Andes, the Marañon Drainage and extreme northwest Peru in Tumbes at elevations ranging between 600-2600 m. It also occurs in Co, Ec, Br, and Bo.

Name in Spanish: Espiguero de Vientre Amarillo.

Sub-species: Yellow-bellied Seedeater (Sporophila nigricollis inconspicua), Berlepsch and Stolzmann, 1906.

Meaning of Name: Sporophila: Gr. sporos= seed and philos= lover. nigricollis: L. niger= black and collum, collis= necked, throated.

See more of the Family Thraupidae