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Yellow-faced grassquit (male)
Tiaris olivaceus
8.53798, -80.7821
Field Notes
Description:
It is a small bird with a conical bill, sharper than that of the related seedeaters. It is 3.9-4.2 in (10-10.7 cm) long and weighs about 0.28-0.35 oz (8-10 g), depending on subspecies. The adult male has an olive-green back, and its face and breast are black apart from a bright yellow throat, supercilia, and lower eyelid spot. The rest of the underparts are greyish olive. The beak and eyes are dark, the legs are grey.
The adult female is slightly smaller on average than the male. It is dull olive-green above and paler grey below, and may have some dark breast smudges. The yellow face pattern is much weaker and duller, and may be almost invisible. The lower part of the beak is dark horn-colored. Young birds are colored essentially like the adult female, but duller and greyer. Young males begin to acquire full adult plumage in their first year.
The Yellow-faced Grassquit has a weak buzzing trilled ttttt-tee call. The song is a varying series of high thin rapid trills. Given for a prolonged time, it is melodious, yet subdued, and often only heard from a short distance away.
Habitat:
The Yellow-faced Grassquit is a common to abundant resident in lowlands and foothills up to 7,500 ft (2,300 m) altitude in semi-open areas such as roadsides, pasture, weedy fields and low scrub. It avoids dry grassland and other very low growth, but will readily utilize neglected gardens where lawn grass has grown high. It is a fairly sociable bird, sometimes forming loose flocks with other tanagers (such as seedeaters) and emberizids that share its lifestyle, and occasionally adult males will come together to perch in a shrub and sing.
Notes:
The bird in these images is a male.
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