Black-faced Brushfinch Atlapetes melanolaemus Scientific name definitions

There has been much change in the taxonomy of brush-finches lately, and this is another one of these recently split species. The Black-faced Brush-Finch once belonged in the expanded “Rufous-naped” Brush-Finch complex, but due to molecular work this complex has been separated into various species level units; some are not actually all that closely related to each other! The Black-faced Brush-Finch is found in SE Cuzco and Puno Departments in Peru, it also leaks in to northernmost La Paz Department in Bolivia. Here there is some evidence that it may occasionally hybridize with the “Bolivian” Rufous-naped Brush-Finch, something that bears some study. To the north of it is the Vilcabamba Brush-Finch, both this and the Bolivian bird are yellow below including the throat. The Black-faced Brush-Finch however has a blackish throat, and some dark mottling on the breast and fore-flanks, otherwise being dusky-yellow below. Above it is dark olive, with blackish face sides and showing a nice russet crown stripe as do the members of the “Rufous-naped” complex. It is locally common and found in humid montane forest and shrubby slopes in elevations between 1400 and 3200m. The Black-faced Brush-Finch forages on or near the ground as pairs or family groups.

• Black-faced x Bolivian Brushfinch (hybrid) Atlapetes melanolaemus x rufinucha

SE Peru (E Cuzco and adjacent Puno) and adjacent W Bolivia (La Paz).

Near Manu National Park, Peru, where 47 nests found in 2007–2013 (1 Forrester, T.R. and Londoño, G.A. (2016). Breeding biology and egg temperatures of Black-faced Brush-finches (Atlapetes melanolaemus), Neotropical montane songbirds. Journal of Field Ornithology. 87(3): 260–272. Close ), nesting occurs in late Jul–early Dec, peaking in Oct; nest, an open cup mostly made of thick grasses and Chusquea bamboo leaves, lined with thin, dry grasses, and usually well concealed in grasses, ferns, or bushes, at an average height of 0·9 m above ground (range 0–3 m, n = 36); clutch size, 2 eggs; eggs, measuring 23·2 mm × 16·8 mm on average, are creamy pink with rufous and/or brown spots generally concentrated toward the large end; incubation period ,14–15 days (average 14·8); nestling period, 13–14 days (average 13·8 days); on hatch day, nestlings weight 3·24 g on average, have bright pink skin, with grey down on the head and back, and show red mouth lining, pinkish-grey legs, yellow nail tips, black beaks and yellow commissures. No further information.

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Locally common to fairly common. Has a small, but not tiny, global range, within which it is not uncommon. In addition, no imminent threat to stability of populations, and therefore considered not at any immediate risk.