Photo by Raul Padilla
San Bartolo Tutotepec, Mexico, March 2016
- Atlapetes albinucha
Includes Yellow-throated Brush-Finch
Identification
Two different groups:
White-naped Brush-Finch
Upperside dark gray to black, head with white stripe on central crown down to start of nape. Underside yellow, becoming more dusky towards the rear.
Yellow-throated Brush-Finch
Differ from the White-naped type in having yellow limited to the throat; the rest of the underside varies from pale gray washed brownish on flanks to white washed with olive.
Distribution & Taxonomy
Two groups which differ remarkably and are sometimes treated as two species:
White-naped Brush-Finch
- A.a. albinucha:
Yellow-throated Brush-Finch
This form is found from southern Mexico to Panama and Colombia.
- A.a. gutturalis (if considered a full species, this is the nominate subspecies of the species Atlapetes gutturalis):
- Upper tropical and subtropical northern Colombia
- A.a. griseipectus:
- Pacific slope of southern Mexico (Chiapas) to western Guatemala and El Salvador
- A.a. fuscipygius:
- Highlands of Honduras to north-western El Salvador and north-western Nicaragua
- A.a. parvirostris:
- Subtropical Costa Rica
- A.a. brunnescens:
- Subtropical western Panama (western Chiriquí)
- A.a. coloratus:
- Subtropical western Panama (eastern Chiriquí and Veraguas)
- A.a. azuerensis:
- Western Panama (Azuero Peninsula)
Habitat
Forest edge, clearings, and high-altitude shrubland, sometimes in areas best described as cloud forest. In Mexico often in areas with mixture of pine and other trees.
Behaviour
Likes to keep hidden except when singing, and probably not easy to see even then. Mostly seeks food on the ground or low above the ground.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2015. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2015, with updates to August 2015. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Ridgely & Gwynne 1989. Birds of Panama. Princeton Paperbacks. ISBN 0691025126
- Howell & Webb, 1995. A guide to the birds of Mexico and northern Central America. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198540124
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