Grassland Yellow-finch

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Grassland Yellow Finch

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Emberizidae
Genus:	Sicalis
Species:	S. luteola

Binomial name

Sicalis luteola
(Sparrman, 1789)

The Grassland Yellow Finch, Sicalis luteola, is a small passerine bird. Despite its name, it is not a finch, but is a member of the bunting and American sparrow family, the Emberizidae.

It is a resident breeding bird in tropical South America, from Colombia south and east to the Guianas and central Ecuador, Peru and Brazil. Birds which breed further south in Argentina and Uruguay migrate to Bolivia and southern Brazil in the austral winter. It was discovered on Trinidad in 2004, presumably having colonised from nearby Venezuela.

The Grassland Yellow Finch, as its name implies, is found in fields and other open grassland. The female lays 3 brown-speckled pale blue-green eggs in a grassy cup nest in tall grass, and several pairs may breed close to each other in suitable areas.

The Grassland Yellow Finch is about 12 cm long and weighs 13 g. The males have bright yellow underparts and rump, and olive yellow upperparts. The crown and nape have dark streaking, and there is yellow around the eye. Females have dark-streaked pale brown upperparts and dull yellow underparts. The call is a sharp te-tsip, and the male’s song, given from a perch or in a display flight, is a series of chips, buzzes and trills.

Grassland Yellow Finches eat seeds and insects, and are usually seen in pairs or small groups.

[edit] References

BirdLife International (2004). Sicalis luteola. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 10 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
Birds of Venezuela by Hilty, ISBN 0-7136-6418-5