Black-faced grassquit
| Black-faced grassquit | |
|---|---|
_male.jpg) |
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| male, Jamaica | |
_female.jpg) |
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| female, Jamaica | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Thraupidae |
| Genus: | Tiaris |
| Species: | T. bicolor |
| Binomial name | |
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Tiaris bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) |
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The black-faced grassquit (Tiaris bicolor) is a small bird formerly placed with the Emberizidae. It is now recognized as a tanager closely related to Darwins finches. It breeds in the West Indies except Cuba, on Tobago but not Trinidad, and along the northern coasts of Colombia and Venezuela.
This is a common bird in long grass or scrub in open or semi-open areas, including roadsides and ricefields. It makes a domed grass nest, lined with finer grasses, and placed low in a bush or on a bank. The typical clutch is two or three whitish eggs blotched with reddish brown. Both sexes build the nest and feed the young.
Adult black-faced grassquits are 10.2 cm long and weigh 10.5 g. They have a short conical black bill with an obvious curve to the culmen. The male is olive green above, paler grey-olive below, and has a black head and breast. Female and immature birds have dull olive-grey upperparts and head, and paler grey underparts becoming whiter on the belly.
Males on the South American mainland have more extensively black underparts, shading to a grey belly.
The black-faced grassquit feeds mainly on seeds, especially of grasses and weeds. It is often found in small groups, but is solitary at evening roosts.
The male has a display flight in which he flies for short distances, vibrating his wings and giving a buzzing dik-zeezeezee call.
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Wikipedia