- Sicalis luteola
Includes: Misto Yellow-Finch
Identification
9·8–12·5 cm (3¾-5 in)
- Olive-brown above
- Dark streaks on the crown and back
- Bright yellow around the eyes and lores
- Yellow below with olive breast
Similar Species
Both song and behavior when singing will remind a European birder of Tree Pipit.
Distribution
From southern Mexico to South America including Trinidad and parts of the Lesser Antilles.
In South America consists of several allopatric populations in the northern half and another in the south; even though the southern population migrates north in Austral winter, it probably never overlaps with the northern populations in range.
Additionally found naturalized in the Lesser Antilles where it probably was released in Barbados around year 1900 and is now also found in Antigua, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and Grenada, and is a vagrant to the Grenadines. In Trinidad a recent arrival (common since 2004).
Taxonomy
Subspecies
There are seven subspecies[1]:
- S. l. chrysops :
- S. l. mexicana:
- Pacific slope of southern Mexico (south-western Puebla and Morelos)
- S. l. eisenmanni:
- Pacific slope of north-western Costa Rica (Guanacaste) and Panama (Coclé)
- S. l. bogotensis:
- S. l. luteola:
- S. l. flavissima:
- Islands at mouth of Amazon River and adjacent Pará
- S. l. luteiventris:
- Lowlands of southern South America
Luteiventris from southern South America is sometimes split as Misto Yellow-Finch.
Habitat
Wetlands, farmland, tall grassland and beside marshes.
Behaviour
Breeding
They nest on the ground in grass fields which is often raided by predators such as the mongoose and Cattle Egret.
Vocalisation
Voice is similar to that of the Black-faced Grassquit which is a sort of buzz made especially when in flight. Often sings when starting from a perch in a bush or a tall grass and returning to another nearby perch.
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/
- BF Member Observations
- Ridgely and Tudor 2009. Field guide to the songbirds of South America - The Passerines. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-71979-8
- Raffaele et al. 1998. Birds of the West Indies. Christopher Helm, London. ISBN 0713649054
- Kenefick, Restall, Hayes, 2007. Field guide to the birds of Trinidad and Tobago. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-13557-2
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2021) Grassland Yellow Finch. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 29 April 2021 from https://www.birdforum.net/wiki/Grassland_Yellow_Finch
