SPARROWS AND FINCHES   -   EMBERIZIDAE   -   PART I

Rufous-collared Sparrow Zonotrichia capensis subtorquata Santuario de Caraça, Minas Gerais state, Brazil. A fitting start to the family, one of the most common and familiar birds of the neotropics, from southern Mexico to Tierra del Fuego. Here is one collecting nesting material. (S5)

Rufous-collared Sparrow Zonotrichia capensis costaricensis El Dorado reserve, Santa Marta Mountains, Magdalena department, Colombia. (S5)

Grassland Sparrow Ammodramus humeralis xanthornis(?) Reserva Ecologica de Guapi Assu, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. (D2)

Rusty Sparrow Aimophila rufescens pectoralis(?) El Sumidero National Park, Chiapas state, Mexico. Found from Mexico to Costa Rica. (S5)

Oaxaca Sparrow Aimophila notosticta Oaxaca Valley, Mexico. Endemic to arid central Oaxaca. Similar to Rusty Sparrow A. rufescens, but note the thinner bill and bolder eyering. (S5)

Cinnamon-tailed Sparrow Peucaea sumichrasti West of Tehuantepec, Oaxaca state, Mexico. Sometimes also called Sumichrast's Sparrow, it is endemic to the Mexico in the southern part of the isthmus. (S5)

Stripe-headed Sparrow Peucaea ruficauda ruficauda La Ensenada Lodge, Guanacaste province, Costa Rica A bird of arid scrub - it is quite common in drier parts of Mexico and Central America. (S6)

Tumbes Sparrow Rhynchospiza stolzmanni Zapotillo, Loja province, Ecuador. (S5)

Volcano Junco Junco vulcani Cerro de la Muerte, San José province, Costa Rica. This is the southernmost junco in the world, occuring only in páramo in the highest reaches of the Talamanca range from southern Costa Rica to western Panama. (S5)

Blue Finch Porphyrospiza caerulescens Serra de Cipó, Minas Gerais state, Brazil. An odd, beautiful "finch" of cerrado of Bolivia and Brazil. It might not actually be a finch; some ornithologists place it in the Cardinalidae. This was the featured photo from Nov-Dec 2009. (S5)

Peruvian Sierra-Finch Phrygilus punensis chloronotus Cajamarca-Celendín road, Cajamarca department, Peru. Male. Despite its name, this species does reach Bolivia. (S6)

Mourning Sierra-Finch Phrygilus fruticeti fruticeti El Infiernillo, Salta province, Argentina. Juv. male. He's lost the brown and rufous tones of the female, but hasn't yet the black underparts. (S5)

Mourning Sierra-Finch Phrygilus fruticeti fruticeti Putre, Region I, Chile. Male. This bird has rather worn plumage, since the black come down almost to the belly, with the white underparts quite reduced compared to a bird in fresh plumage. (S5)

Plumbeous Sierra-Finch Phrygilus unicolor geospizopsis Antisana reserve, Napo province, Ecuador. Female. (S4)

Red-backed Sierra-Finch Phrygilus dorsalis Sierra de Santa Victoria, Salta province, Argentina. This pretty species has a fairly restricted range in very high elevation puna in NW Argentina, S Bolivia, and N Chile. Unlike most sierra finches, the sexes are alike. (S6)

White-throated Sierra-Finch Phrygilus erythronotus Lauca National Park, Region I, Chile. Restricted to the altiplano of southern Peru, northern Chile, and western Bolivia. (S5)

Ash-breasted Sierra-Finch Phrygilus plebejus ocularis El Empalme, Loja province, Ecuador. Female. (S5)

Band-tailed Sierra-Finch Phrygilus alaudinus bipartitus Near Calacalí, Pichincha province, Ecuador. Male. A specialist of dry, sparsely vegetated areas. (S5)

White-winged Diuca-Finch Diuca speculifera speculifera Lauca National Park, Region I, Chile. A common bird of very high elevations in southern Peru and western Bolivia, but it only barely makes it into extreme northern Chile. (S5)

White-winged Diuca-Finch Diuca speculifera speculifera Lauca National Park, Region I, Chile. A different angle, the red eye really stands out. (S5)

Common Diuca-Finch Diuca diuca diuca La Campana National Park, Region V, Chile. Probably a female from the brown tinge to the plumage. (S5)

White-bridled Finch Melanodera melanodera princetoniana Pali Aike National Park, Region XII, Chile. Male. Also known as Black-throated Finch and Canary-winged Finch. Endemic to grasslands in Patagonia. (S5)

Cinereous Finch Piezorhina cinerea Bosque de Pomac, Lambayeque department, Peru. Endemic to dry scrub and woodland of NW Peru, though there is one unconfirmed record from southern Ecuador. (D2)

Slender-billed Finch Xenospingus concolor Chaca Valley, Region I, Chile. Adult. (S5)

Slender-billed Finch Xenospingus concolor Azapa Valley, Region I, Chile. Juvenile. (S5)

Gray-winged Inca-Finch Incaspiza ortizi West side of Marañon Canyon above Balsas, Cajamarca department, Peru. The Inca-Finches (Incaspiza) are a genus endemic to Peru, occuring in arid areas of the Andes. The Gray-winged Inca-Finch has a very restricted range at middle elevations in the upper Marañon Valley. It has been theorized that this species may reach Ecuador, but to date it has not yet been found there. (S6)

Buff-bridled Inca-Finch Incaspiza laeta West side of Marañon Canyon above Balsas, Cajamarca department, Peru. This species has a similar range to the previous, but occurs at lower elevations and is somewhat less local. I think it is the most beautiful of the genus. It has a chestnut back that is not very visible in this shot. (S6)

Little Inca-Finch Incaspiza watkinsi A few km west of Bagua Grande, Amazonas department, Peru. This species is also a Marañon Valley endemic, but it prefers even lower elevations than Buff-bridled, and they are not know to overlap in range. (D2)

Cinereous Warbling-Finch Poospiza cinerea Serra de Cipó, Minas Gerais state, Brazil. Perhaps the plainest member of this genus, which is better known for colorful and ornate finches of the southern Andes and the Atlantic Forest. This species is endemic to interior SE Brazil, usually  in cerrado. (D2)

Plain-tailed Warbling-Finch Poospiza alticola Cajamarca-Celendín road, Cajamarca department, Peru. A scarce bird endemic to high elevation scrub and polylepis woodland in northern and central Peru. (S6)

Black-and-rufous Warbling-Finch Poospiza nigrorufa nigrorufa Costanera Sur, Buenos Aires, Argentina. This is the nominate race, mostly endemic to the Pampas region. The Andean subspecies are usually split off  (though not yet by SACC) which would leave this one as a monotypic species. (S5)

Collared Warbling-Finch Poospiza hispaniolensis Chaparri reserve, Lambayeque department, Peru. Male. Restricted to arid scrub and desert west of the Andes in Ecuador and Peru. (S6)

Ringed Warbling-Finch Poospiza torquata pectoralis Quilmes, Tucumán province, Argentina. A handsome bird found in arid areas from Bolivia and Paraguay south to central Argentina. (S5)

Tucuman Mountain-Finch Compsospiza baeri Above Tafí del Valle, Tucuman province, Argentina. This striking bird is virtually endemic to the Andes of NW Argentina (there is one record from Bolivia in 1999). It inhabits montane scrub near treeline. (S5)

Citron-headed Yellow-Finch Sicalis luteocephala Yavi, Jujuy province, Argentina. Near endemic to the Andes of Bolivia, just barely getting into northern Argentina. (D3)

Greater Yellow-Finch Sicalis auriventris El Yeso, Santiago Metropolitan Region, Chile. Male. (S5)

Greenish Yellow-Finch Sicalis olivascens olivascens Los Cardones NP, Salta province, Argentina. A very common bird of drier parts of the Andes from Peru south. (D3)		Greenish Yellow-Finch Sicalis olivascens olivascens Tilcara, Jujuy province, Argentina. Female. (D3)

Saffron Finch Sicalis flaveola pelzelni Guapi Assu Bird Lodge, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. Male. A common and familiar bird over much of South America, often called canaries by local people. (S5)

Saffron Finch Sicalis flaveola pelzelni Iguazú National Park, Misiones province, Argentina. Female. (S6)

Grassland Yellow-Finch Sicalis luteola bogotensis Near Calacalí, Pichincha province, Ecuador. Male, as it was singing and doing what appeared to be display flights. (S5)

Grassland Yellow-Finch Sicalis luteola luteiventris Concón, Region V, Chile. (S5)

Sulphur-throated Finch Sicalis taczanowskii Chaparrí Ecological Reserve, Lambayeque department, Peru. Male. An odd and nomadic desert finch of NW Peru and SW Ecuador. In most areas it is very rare, but it can locally and seasonally be quite common, for instance at Chaparrí where it can occur in large flocks during the dry season. They are hard to approach, and I got my best shot by digiscoping. (D6)