- Rhopospina fruticeti
Phrygilus fruticeti
Identification
18 cm, 7 in. 35·1–41·8 g.
Male
- Grey head
- Black lores
- Crown streaked black
- Brown iris
- Beak yellowy orange
- Upperparts streaked grey mantle and back
- Lower back and rump are unstreaked
- From chin to lower breast charcoal grey
- Grey flanks streaked above and plain below
- Belly white
- Undertail coverts white
- Upperwing blackish with two strong white wingbars
- Tail Dark grey black
- Legs dull orange
- Fresh plumage, post breeding season, shows that above, the feather tips are light brown,
streaked dark which abraid leaving grey - Dark throat and breast with indistinct white wearing to black
- Lesser coverts grey tips fade
- Median and greater coverts, primaries and retrices have light brown edges that wear off in worn plumage
Female
- Crown green grey with dark streaks
- Light grey supercilium
- Chestnut ear coverts
- White submoustachial stripe extending backwards
- Strong blackish malar stripe
- Side of neck grey and usually unstreaked framing the ear-coverts
- Beak is dull pink
- Upperparts grey brown with dark streaks
- Lower back and rump plain
- Throat off white with narrow streaks
- Upperwing brown with two strong white wingbars
- Greater coverts and primaries have buff edges
- Underparts white with buff flanks
- Fine streaking on breast and flanks
- White belly
- Undertail coverts pale buff with fine streaks
- Tail brown
- Legs dull pink
Juvenile
- Immature male similar to female with darker face
- Black throat and breast with broad white tips
Distribution
South America: found from the Andes of Peru to Tierra del Fuego.
Taxonomy
This species has in the past been placed in genus Phrygilus.
Subspecies
There are three subspecies[1]
- R. f. fruticeti
- R. f. peruviana smaller than nominate, with heavier streaking on upperparts. In fresh plumage brighter and more reddish brown above
- R. f. coracina male nearly completely black during breeding season.
- Andes of Bolivia (western Oruro and Potosí)
Habitat
Lives in open and partially open arid habitats. In the Andes it occupies shrub covered hillsides, including Polylepis forest edge and cultivated land. In the steppes of Patagonia it lives in flat steppe, often covered with Berberis microphylla. In Central Chile it occupies lower agricultural areas and open matorral cactus habitats. It is found in altitudes, in the Patagonian steppe and in Central Chile during the winter, of up to 4000 m.
Behaviour
Diet
Seeds and invertebrates, and small fruit when available. Winter studies in Central Chile shows 98% seeds and 2% invertebrates. Terrestrially foraging in pairs or small flocks. Nearly always in flocks outside of the breeding season.
Breeding
Breeds from September to March in most of it's range. Central Chile from October to January, a bit later in Patagonia. Fledglings have been recorded in December in La Paz, Bolivia. Records show that eggs hatch in April and May in Peru.
Seems to be partially colonial without strong territorial behaviour during the breeding season and displays all the time. Flies up to height of 4–10 m, and sings in a glided descent.with widely spread wings and tail. Wings are held slight lowered during descent.
Nests are slack and sloppy, made of grass and lined with spongy matter in thick low bushes. 2–3 eggs, light green dappled greeny brown.
Vocalisation
Song a loud, buzzing and rasping sound like some icterids, the buzz often pstarts with a short “chip” and ends with “pik-chzzzzzééééé chwiip” In central Chile, the song is higher and buzzier than in northern Chile, northwest Argentina, Peru and Bolivia. In Peru and northern Chile the song lacks the initial “chip”. Call is a raspy “shweaaa”, nasal sounding.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2022. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2022. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved August 2015)
- This thread discusses a recent (2011) phylogenetic study of the genus Phrygilus.
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Mourning Sierra Finch. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 28 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Mourning_Sierra_Finch
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.
