Yellow-headed Brushfinch
A species of Atlapetes Brush-finches Scientific name : Atlapetes flaviceps Genus : Atlapetes Brush-finches
Yellow-headed Brushfinch, A species of Atlapetes Brush-finches
Botanical name: Atlapetes flaviceps
Genus: Atlapetes Brush-finches
Content
Description General Info
Photo By Nikolaj Mølgaard Thomsen
Description
The yellow-headed brushfinch (Atlapetes flaviceps) is a Near Threatened species of bird in the American sparrow family, Passerellidae. It is endemic to Colombia. The common name is a semi-literal translation of the scientific name, with Atlapetes referring to the brushfinch genus, and flaviceps meaning "yellow-headed". This species has a yellow to dark olive head. The throat, chin, malar streak, lores, eye-ring, and ear patch are bright yellow in any case. The rest of the plumage is yellow with dark olive upperparts, wing and tail. The variation in the head color is not well explained, but it is likely that the olive-headed individuals are females and/or immature birds.
Size
17 cm
Feeding Habits
Yellow-headed Brushfinch consumes a varied diet of small fruits, insects, and seeds, including Miconia sp. and Bocconia frutescens. Typical foraging behavior involves searching for food mostly as pairs or small groups, often joining mixed-species flocks.
Habitat
The yellow-headed Brushfinch typically resides in habitats such as the undergrowth of moist montane forests and brush adjacent to cleared mountain areas. These birds are also adaptable to secondary growths and frequently inhabit the peripheries and edges of plantations and fruit orchards, as well as forest remnants.
Dite type
Granivorous
General Info
Distribution Area
This bird was encountered in the La Plata Vieja Valley in Huila Department in 1967, but the only recent records are from the upper Coello River basin in Tolima Department (the Toché River is one of the main tributaries of the Coello River). Namely, it is found between 1,000 and 2,500 meters ASL in Cajamarca, Ibagué and Roncesvalles and perhaps Rovira municipalities, in the upper reaches of the Anaime, Cocora, Combeima and Toché river valleys. It remains locally common in thick secondary vegetation and degraded forest, bordering gallery forest and arracacha (Arracacia xanthorriza) and granadilla (Passiflora species) plantations. The yellow-headed brush finch has been observed to take part in mixed-species feeding flocks together with the common bush-tanager (Chlorospingus ophthalmicus), white-throated tyrannulet (Mecocerculus leucophrys), golden-fronted whitestart (Myioborus ornatus), blue-and-black tanager (Tangara vassorii), blue-capped tanager (Thraupis cyanocephala) and fawn-breasted tanager (Pipraeidea melanonota). It is threatened by habitat loss; most areas in the inter-Andean valleys of Colombia have already been converted to agricultural land. The total population is believed to be at least 250 but not more than 1,000 adult birds.
Photo By Nikolaj Mølgaard Thomsen
Scientific Classification
Phylum
Chordates Class
Birds Order
Perching birds Family
New world sparrows Genus
Atlapetes Brush-finches Species
Yellow-headed Brushfinch