Chestnut-bellied seed finch

Chestnut-bellied seed finch
male
female
Conservation status

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Thraupidae
Genus: Oryzoborus
Species: O. angolensis
Binomial name
Oryzoborus angolensis
(Linnaeus, 1766)

The chestnut-bellied seed finch (Oryzoborus angolensis) is a species of bird in the Thraupidae family, but was until recently placed in Emberizidae.

It is found widely in shrubby and grassy areas in tropical and subtropical South America. Commonly known as "Curió" in most of the continent, specially in Brazil. In the Guyanas it is known as "Towa Towa". It has been replaced west of the Andes (and in Central America) by the closely related thick-billed seed finch (O. funereus), in which the male lacks the chestnut belly of the male chestnut-bellied seed-finch. The best singers are from Brazil (chestnut-bellied seed finch - Oryzoborus Angolensis, where local breeders have developed breeding techniques which are helping growing population of the bird thus helping to reduce illegal traffic of the species. The two have often been considered conspecific as the lesser seed-finch, using the older scientific name O. angolensis.

References

Media related to Oryzoborus angolensis at Wikimedia Commons