Thick-billed seed finch

Thick-billed seed finch
Male
Female
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Thraupidae
Genus: Sporophila
Species:
S. funerea
Binomial name
Sporophila funerea
(Sclater, PL, 1860)

The thick-billed seed finch (Sporophila funerea) is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae, but was until recently placed in Emberizidae. It is found widely in shrubby and grassy areas from southern Mexico, through Central America, to the Chocó in Colombia and Ecuador. It is replaced by the closely related chestnut-bellied seed finch in South America east of the Andes, as well as the valleys of Cauca and Magdalena in Colombia. The two have often been considered conspecific as the lesser seed-finch (Oryzoborus angolensis).

The male is almost entirely black, with a small white wing patch. The female is a rich brown all over. They are both very similar to the all-black Caribbean slope form of the variable seedeater. It is distinguished, however, by a larger bill with a straight culmen.[2] They measure 11.5 cm (4.5 in) long and weigh 13.5 g (0.48 oz).[3]

References

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2017). "Sporophila funerea". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017. IUCN: e.T22729107A137079233. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-3.RLTS.T22729107A137079233.en.
  2. ^ Angehr, George R.; Dean, Robert (2010). The Birds of Panama. Ithaca: Zona Tropical/Comstock/Cornell University Press. p. 356. ISBN 978-0-8014-7674-7.
  3. ^ Ramos-Ordoñez, M.F.; Rodríguez-Flores, C.; Soberanes-González, C.; Arizmendi, M.C. (2010). Schulenberg, T.S. (ed.). "Overview – Thick-billed seed-finch (Oryzoborus funereus)". Neotropical Birds Online. Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 29 September 2014.