Sooty Grassquit

About the Sooty Grassquit

The sooty grassquit (Asemospiza fuliginosa) is a small bird in the family Thraupidae, the tanagers and allies. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Guyana, Paraguay, Trinidad, Venezuela, and as a vagrant to Bolivia.

The sooty grassquit was formally described in 1830 with the binomial Fringilla fuliginosa. By 1970 it had been reassigned to the genus Tiaris. Based on studies published in 2014 and 2015, in 2016 Burns et al. erected the genus Asemospiza with the sooty grassquit as the type species and including the dull-colored grassquit (A. obscura). The genus is closely related to Darwin's finches.

The sooty grassquit is monotypic. The sooty grassquit is 10 to 11.4 cm (3.9 to 4.5 in) long and weighs 11 to 16 g (0.39 to 0.56 oz). The species is sexually dimorphic. Adult males are sooty blackish with an olive tinge on the back and slightly paler underparts. Adult females are a rich olive-brown that is darker on their upperparts than underparts. Both sexes have a dark iris, dark legs and feet, and a dark bill though the female's is slightly lighter. Juveniles are like adult females.

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