Chestnut-capped Brush-Finch
Encyclopedia
The Chestnut-capped Brush Finch, Arremon brunneinucha, is a passerine
bird
which breeds in highlands from central Mexico
to southeastern Peru
. Despite its name, it is not a true finch
, but rather a member of the large Emberizidae family, which also includes buntings
, American sparrow
s, junco
s and towhee
s. Until recently, it was generally placed in the genus
Buarremon
, while it occasionally has been placed in Atlapetes
.
This is a common bird in the undergrowth of wet mountain forests, second growth, and ravines from 900 m to 2500 m altitude.
The nest, built by the female, is a large cup of plant material placed less than 2.5 m up in a shrub or small tree in dense scrub or a ravine. The typical clutch is two glossy, unmarked white or pale blue eggs, which are incubated by the female alone for 12–14 days to hatching.
The Chestnut-capped Brush Finch is a large, robust, mainly terrestrial species, 19 cm long and weighing 45 g. It has a long slender bill and large feet and legs. The adult has a distinctive head pattern, with a yellow-edged chestnut crown and nape, black forehead and head sides, white spots in the centre and each side of the forehead, and a white throat which is often puffed up when the bird is excited. The upperparts are dark olive, with darker wings . The white central breast is separated from the white throat by a black band. The breast sides are grey, and the flanks and lower belly are olive-green. Young birds have a sooty-brown cap, sooty face and olive-brown upperparts, throat and breast.
The Chestnut-capped Brush Finch has a thiny pink call and a very high-pitched psssst. The male’s song consists of a mixture of whistles and sharper notes.
The Chestnut-capped Brush Finch feeds on insect
s and spider
s extracted from the leaf litter with its bill, and also pick berries and invertebrate prey from low bushes. It is seen in pairs, family parties, or with warblers
and other Emberizids as part of a mixed-species feeding flock
.
Passerine
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...
bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
which breeds in highlands from central Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
to southeastern Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
. Despite its name, it is not a true finch
Finch
The true finches are passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. They are predominantly seed-eating songbirds. Most are native to the Northern Hemisphere, but one subfamily is endemic to the Neotropics, one to the Hawaiian Islands, and one subfamily – monotypic at genus level – is found...
, but rather a member of the large Emberizidae family, which also includes buntings
Bunting (bird)
Buntings are a group of Eurasian and African passerine birds of the family Emberizidae.They are seed-eating birds with stubby, conical bills, and are the Old World equivalents of the species known in North America as sparrows...
, American sparrow
American sparrow
American sparrows are a group of mainly New World passerine birds, forming part of the family Emberizidae. American sparrows are seed-eating birds with conical bills, brown or gray in color, and many species have distinctive head patterns....
s, junco
Junco
A Junco , genus Junco, is a small North American bird. Junco systematics are still confusing after decades of research, with various authors accepting between three and twelve species...
s and towhee
Towhee
A towhee is any one of a number of species of birds in the genus Pipilo or Melozone within the family Emberizidae ....
s. Until recently, it was generally placed in the genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
Buarremon
Buarremon
Buarremon is a genus of perching birds in the family Emberizidae. Recent evidence indicates this genus should be merged into Arremon, but if recognized as a valid genus, it contains the following species:...
, while it occasionally has been placed in Atlapetes
Atlapetes
Atlapetes is a genus of bird in the Emberizidae family. Along with the genus Buarremon they comprise the brush-finches.It contains the following species:* White-naped Brush Finch, Atlapetes albinucha...
.
This is a common bird in the undergrowth of wet mountain forests, second growth, and ravines from 900 m to 2500 m altitude.
The nest, built by the female, is a large cup of plant material placed less than 2.5 m up in a shrub or small tree in dense scrub or a ravine. The typical clutch is two glossy, unmarked white or pale blue eggs, which are incubated by the female alone for 12–14 days to hatching.
The Chestnut-capped Brush Finch is a large, robust, mainly terrestrial species, 19 cm long and weighing 45 g. It has a long slender bill and large feet and legs. The adult has a distinctive head pattern, with a yellow-edged chestnut crown and nape, black forehead and head sides, white spots in the centre and each side of the forehead, and a white throat which is often puffed up when the bird is excited. The upperparts are dark olive, with darker wings . The white central breast is separated from the white throat by a black band. The breast sides are grey, and the flanks and lower belly are olive-green. Young birds have a sooty-brown cap, sooty face and olive-brown upperparts, throat and breast.
The Chestnut-capped Brush Finch has a thiny pink call and a very high-pitched psssst. The male’s song consists of a mixture of whistles and sharper notes.
The Chestnut-capped Brush Finch feeds on insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s and spider
Spider
Spiders are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, and chelicerae with fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other groups of organisms...
s extracted from the leaf litter with its bill, and also pick berries and invertebrate prey from low bushes. It is seen in pairs, family parties, or with warblers
New World warbler
The New World warblers or wood-warblers are a group of small, often colorful, passerine birds restricted to the New World. They are not related to the Old World warblers or the Australian warblers....
and other Emberizids as part of a mixed-species feeding flock
Mixed-species feeding flock
A mixed-species feeding flock, also termed a mixed-species foraging flock, mixed hunting party or informally bird wave, is a flock of usually insectivorous birds of different species, that join each other and move together while foraging...
.