Cinnamon-rumped Seedeater Sporophila torqueola Scientific name definitions

Editor's Note: Due to a recent taxonomic revision, this species account is still being edited and may contain content from an earlier version of the account.

Small to tiny seedeater . Nominate race breeding male has blackish-brown head contrasting with white band across side of neck running from side of nape to join whitish submoustachial area and throat; nape and upperparts blackish brown, contrasting cinnamon rump, white on throat extending as white spur to side of neck (but lacks full collar separating cap from back); upperwing and tail blackish, base of primaries white (creating rectangular white panel on folded wing); below, has well-marked narrow black breastband, with rest of underparts pale cinnamon, palest on belly and continuing to undertail-coverts; iris blackish; bill and legs blackish. Male non-breeding more nondescript, entirely buffy brown and unstreaked above, lacking any distinctive pattern, pale cinnamon below, darkest on breast and flanks, paler creamy buff on chin, belly and vent; bill dark horn-colored. Female similar to non-breeding male, with grayer olive upperparts, wings and tail dark brown with two whitish wingbars and no white primary flash. Juvenile is like female; immature male gradually gains adult pattern, brownish back, wings and tail the last to become black (a black-crowned and brown-backed individual is a young male). Variation is mainly in plumage tones and pattern of male: atriceps male is like nominate, but back browner (rarely blackish), wing patch smaller.

Overlaps geographically with two other species of Sporophila, the Ruddy-breasted Seedeater (Sporophila minuta) and the Variable Seedeater (Sporophila corvina). The male Ruddy-breasted Seedeater in alternate plumage easily is distinguished by two-toned plumage, gray above and ruddy below. Female and basic-plumaged male Ruddy-breasted are more similar, but Ruddy-breasted is smaller, with a paler bill and more contrasting wing edgings. It also lacks the obvious wingbars, which distinguishes it from most subspecies of White-collared (except for nominate torqueola). The male Variable Seedeater is almost all black, and so easily is distinguished. Female Variable Seedeater does not have wingbars, and is more olive in color.

Little known. Believed to have two annual molts (Eitniear 1997), although "because males in breeding plumage can be found at any time of year in Mexico (with a marked summer peak corresponding to the rainy season), their breeding aspect might not correlate strictly to an alternate plumage" (Howell 2010: 229). Also, "number of years it takes for males to acquire Definitive plumage has been debated," with estimates ranging from two to three years (Eitniear 1997).

Iris: brown, hazel (Field Museum of Natural History)

Bill: black (Field Museum of Natural History)

Tarsi: dark brown, black (Field Museum of Natural History)

9·5–11·2 cm; 8·6–10 g.

Two subspecies recognized.

Sporophila is a genus of neotropical finches (family Emberizidae), traditionally considered to be closely related to genera such as Oryzoborus and Volatinia (Paynter 1970). DNA studies show that Sporophila is closer to tanagers than they are to other members of Emberizidae (Sibley and Ahlquist 1990, Burns, unpublished data). A study of phylogenetic relationships among species of Sporophila (Lijtmaer et al. 2004) did not include samples of S. t. torqueola, so its relationships to other species in the genus have not been confirmed. Based on the plumage patterns of the male, it is believed to be related to Variable (Sporophila corvina), Wing-barred (Sporophila americana), Caqueta (Sporophila murallae), and Rusty-collared (Sporophila collaris) seedeaters (Eitniear 1997).

No information.

On the Pacific slope, occurs from northern Mexico (Sinaloa) south to western Oaxaca. It is found from the lowlands to at least 2000 meters (Parker et al. 1996).

Grassy and weedy fields, agricultural lands, pastures, and beach scrub (Slud 1964). They also are very common in the moist savanna (Davis 1972). Areas that have Polygonum, a coarse grass, are a favorite because it is a good seed source (Stiles and Skutch 1989).

Apparently sedentary.

Eats mainly grass seeds, augmented with a few berries and insects. Will jump into air to catch flying insects. Usually in pairs; outside breeding season in flocks of up to several hundred individuals, often with other seed-eating species. The seedeater also consumes insects and can even make short fly-catching sallies (Skutch 1954, Slud 1964). Other possible food sources are sorghum, rice, spiders and occasionally berries (Stiles and Skutch 1989).

Song high-pitched and canary-like, a clear “sweet sweet sweet cheer cheer cheer”, shorter and less complex than S. morelleti; variable. Call an abrupt “chéh”.

None reported.

Little information. General locomotion is very active, and it was found that even during the breeding season that there was very active movement and bustling well into the night (Slud 1964).

Little information.

Interactions between males and females is at its highest during breeding season, which is between April and December (Stiles and Skutch 1989). Socially monogamous (Eitniear 1997).

Can form flocks of up to several hundred individuals birds, which may join mixed species flocks with other seed-eating birds (Stiles and Skutch 1989, Howell and Webb 1995).

No information.

Breeding noted Jan–Aug (1 Schaldach, W. J., B. P. Escalante, and K. Winker (1997). Further notes on the avifauna of Oaxaca, Mexico. Anales del Instituto de Biología de la Universidad Nacionales de Autónoma de Mexico (Serie Zoología) 68(1):91–135. Close , 2 Miller, A. H., H. Friedman, L. Griscom, and R. T. Moore (1957). Distributional check-list of the birds of Mexico. Part 2. Pacific Coast Avifauna 33:1–136. Close ) with single adults feeding fledglings in Oaxaca in Oct (3 Forcey, J.M. (2002). Notes on the birds of central Oaxaca, part III: Hirundinidae to Fringillidae. Huitzil 3(2): 43–55. Close ), where a nest with two eggs was found in third week of Jul.

There is no information related to topics such as age at first breeding, survivorship, dispersal, or population regulation. Klimkiewiez and Futcher (1987) report an individual with a minimum age of 11 years 8 months.

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Common to fairly common; abundant in many parts of its range. Has recently colonized S Baja California; unclear whether this is natural or through introduction.

Although fairly common and widespread, its natural history remains poorly known. There is little or no information on topics such as age at first breeding, life span and survivorship, dispersal, or population regulation. There also are few studies of diet and breeding biology. Even the plumages and molts are poorly known.