White-winged Brushfinch Atlapetes leucopterus Scientific name definitions

All three forms of the White-winged Brushfinch have a big white patch at the base of the primaries, which gives the species its name. In plumage it most closely resembles the Slaty Brushfinch (Atlapetes schistaceus), but is overall paler below. The White-winged Brushfinch has gray upperparts and pale off-gray underparts; the head pattern is variable although all have a white throat, white malar, and a dark lateral throat stripe. The northern leucopterus is blackish on the face sides and has a dark-russet crown stripe ; southern dresseri has a dark forehead and face sides and a pale tawny crown stripe that begins on the mid-crown ; paynteri has a creamy crown stripe, beginning on the mid-crown . Furthermore, dresseri is incredibly variable with many having extensive white flecking on the face and forehead; on some the face becomes nearly completely white , recalling a White-headed Brushfinch (Atlapetes albiceps), except for the tawny crown stripe. Some have suggested that paynteri is best separated as a species. White-winged Brushfinch is a species of shrubby hillsides, in some places occupying very dry habitats, including brush interspersed with Bombax trees.