- Poospiza ornata
Identification
13 cm
Male: Head shows medium grey crown, nape and sides of head, with a pale cinnamon supercilium, half crescent below the eye, and chin and malar stripes. Upperside is mostly medium grey, with chestnut on mantle. Wings have white tips on median coverts and on greater coverts, but these are also edged white almost turning the two wing bars into a panel. There are white edges to flight feathers as well, and the outer tail feathers are white. On the underside, breast and flanks are chestnut getting paler into cinnamon on both throat and central belly and flanks.
Female: is similar to male but all chestnut/cinnamon areas are paler, with the least difference in the mantle area.
Distribution
South America: breeds central Argentina; winters north to Salta, Tucumán and Córdoba as well as into southern Uruguay.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species[1].
Habitat
Breeds in the Monte desert area in areas dominated by desert scrub and woodland, and is generally more common in the more wooded areas.
Behaviour
Main food is grass seeds which are either found on the ground or picked from the plant. It will also utilize seeds of herbs but these are not preferred. Insects may be eaten at certain times of the year.
References
- Clements, J. F., P. C. Rasmussen, T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, A. Spencer, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, M. Smith, and C. L. Wood. 2024. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2024. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Sagario, M. C., V. R. Cueto, J. Lopez de Casenave, F. A. Milesi, and L. Marone (2020). Cinnamon Warbling-Finch (Poospiza ornata), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.ciwfin2.01
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Cinnamon Warbling Finch. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 19 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Cinnamon_Warbling_Finch
