Wing-barred seedeater


The wing-barred seedeater is a passerine bird from coastal regions of north-eastern South America in north-eastern Venezuela, Tobago, the Guianas, Amapá and north-eastern Pará, Brazil, and along the Amazon River upstream to around Manaus. Formerly, it included the mainly Central American Sporophila corvina and the west Amazonian S. murallae as subspecies, in which case the combined species had the common name Variable Seedeater. Following the split, this common name is now restricted to S. corvina.

Description

It has a total length of approximately. Adult males have a relatively heavy black bill. The upperparts are black, except for a greyish rump and two distinct white wing-bars. The underparts are white, except for a broad black pectoral collar and blackish mottling to the upper flanks. The far duller female has a brownish bill, dull buffy-olive upperparts and pale olive-ochre underparts. Juveniles resemble adult females.

Ecology

Found in open or semi-open grassy areas and shrub. Usually seen in pairs or small flocks. As other Sporophila seedeaters, it mainly feeds on seeds, but has also been observed taking flowers, buds and fruits.
It remains fairly common in Suriname, French Guiana and parts of Brazil, and is therefore considered to be of least concern by BirdLife International and IUCN. It is rare to uncommon in Venezuela and Guyana where threatened by trapping for the wild bird trade.