Cuzco Brush-Finch

About the Cuzco Brush-Finch

The Cuzco brushfinch (Atlapetes canigenis), also known as the grey brushfinch or sooty brushfinch, is a species of bird in the family Passerellidae. It is endemic to humid Andean forest in southeastern Peru, where mainly found in Cusco. It is sometimes considered a subspecies of the slaty brushfinch.

Brushfinches are typically medium-size sparrows, with long tails. Brushfinches are usually gray or olive in colour with a contrasting crown. Cuzco brushfinches are two-toned with a uniform dusky gray and a rufous crown. The center of the belly, as well as the other underparts, are lighter gray than the outside, which is dark gray and the rufous color extends to the nape. The crown is boarded by a black stripe extending from in front of the eyes until the gray auriculars. The tail and wings are blackish with the primaries margined slightly with a grayish external. There is a slight fulvous or tawny tint to the remiges most external parts.

One important note is that the Cuzco brushfinch shows considerable variation with the intensity of gray in the underparts - some almost uniformly dark gray below and others that are pale gray with grayish-white abdomens.

Males and females... Wikipedia →