Blue-black Grassquit
Volatinia jacarina
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassAves (Birds)
- OrderPasseriformes (Perching Birds)
- FamilyThraupidae (Tanagers and Allies)
- GenusVolatinia
- SpeciesVolatinia jacarina (Blue-black Grassquit)
About the Blue-black Grassquit
The blue-black grassquit (Volatinia jacarina) is a small Neotropical bird in the family Thraupidae, the tanagers and allies. It is found in Mexico, every Central American country, every mainland South American country, in Trinidad and Tobago, and in Grenada.
The blue-black grassquit was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1766 in the twelfth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Tanagra jacarina. Linnaeus based his description on the "Jacarni" that was described in 1648 by the German naturalist Georg Marcgrave in his Historia Naturalis Brasiliae. The type locality is eastern Brazil. The specific epithet jacarina is derived from the Tupi language and was used for a type of finch. The blue-black grassquit is now the only species in the genus Volatinia that was introduced in 1850 by the German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach. The genus name is a diminutive of the Latin volatus meaning "flying".
Within the tanager family Thraupidae the blue-black grassquit is in the subfamily Tachyphoninae and is a member of a clade that contains the genera Conothraupis and Creurgops. It was formerly placed with the buntings in the... Wikipedia →
Closest Relatives at Chagres National Park
Crimson-backed Tanager
Ramphocelus dimidiatus
Blue-gray Tanager
Thraupis episcopus
Golden-hooded Tanager
Stilpnia larvata
Bay-headed Tanager
Tangara gyrola
Yellow-faced Grassquit
Tiaris olivaceus
Palm Tanager
Thraupis palmarum
Plain-colored Tanager
Tangara inornata
Green Honeycreeper
Chlorophanes spiza
Variable Seedeater
Sporophila corvina
Shining Honeycreeper
Cyanerpes lucidus
Red-legged Honeycreeper
Cyanerpes cyaneus
Blue Dacnis
Dacnis cayana
Global Distribution
Warmer areas are where this animal is recorded most often.
Parks Where Found
Quick answers
What are the chances of seeing a Blue-black Grassquit in Chagres National Park?
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Blue-black Grassquit sighting in Chagres National Park, based on 203 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data.
When is the best time to see Blue-black Grassquit in Chagres National Park?
April has the highest sighting rate for Blue-black Grassquit in Chagres National Park in our monthly data.