Collared Warbling Finch Poospiza hispaniolensis Scientific name definitions

Almost endemic to the coast of Peru, the attractive Ringed Warbling Finch also ranges just into southwest Ecuador. It inhabits desert-like scrub, agricultural areas with scattered trees, and dense scrub near water, and is typically encountered in pairs. The species is unusual among warbling finches in that the sexes differ. Males are gray above with a white supercilium, black cheeks, two white wingbars, and mostly white below except for a bold black breast patch, whereas females have streaked upperparts and a streaked breast, although they possess a similar face pattern.

13·5 cm; one male 16·5 g. A small, compact warbling finch with relatively short and triangular bill. Male has grey crown, black stripe on sides of crown meeting centrally on forehead, long white supercilium, contrasting black mask, and broken white eyering; nape and side of head behind black ear-coverts grey, turning brownish-grey on back, rump and uppertail-coverts; tail blackish, extensive white on inner webs of outer rectrices (folded tail looks largely white from below); upperwing grey, median coverts tipped pale grey, greater coverts tipped whitish-buff (creating one or two pale wingbars), tertials with pale brown fringes; clean white chin, throat and underparts accented by broad black breastband, which narrows at centre of breast (in fresh plumage, feathers of breast side tipped brownish), flanks pale grey, belly and vent white (white often intruding in inverted V-shape into black breastband), cinnamon patch on largely white crissum; iris dark brown; bill blue-grey, black culmen and tip; legs dull pinkish. Female is much duller than male, brown above and streaked, face pattern similar to male’s, but mask dull grey-brown (rather than black), and below off-white with obscure pale brown streaks, lacking cinnamon on crissum; wings brown with buffy wingbars, buffy edges of flight-feathers, greyish-brown shoulder (lesser upperwing-coverts), tail brownish, white pattern on inner webs of outer rectrices as on male; bill dull pinkish, often with blackish tip, legs brownish-pink. Immature is similar to female, but duller and more streaked.

SW Ecuador (SW Manabí, W Guayas, also rarely S Loja and S El Oro), and coastal slope of Peru from Tumbes S to Arequipa.

Alvaro began birding as an 11 year old in Canada, and eventually trained in Evolutionary Ecology studying, creatures as varied as leaf-cutter ants and Argentine cowbirds. But his career has been focused on birding tourism, both as a guide and owner of his tour company, as well as a avitourism consultant to various organizations. He is the author of Birds of Chile, New World Blackbirds: The Icterids, as well as the ABA Field Guide to the birds of California. He lives in Half Moon Bay, California where he is known for his pelagic birding trips. Email: alvaro@alvarosadventures.com.