Golden-winged Sparrow Arremon schlegeli Scientific name definitions

Golden-winged Sparrow is restricted to northernmost South America, essentially dry areas on the north slope of Colombia and Venezuela. This striking member of the genus Arremon has a long and entirely golden yellow bill. The head is black, lacking the pale supercilium of its relatives, and the black of the face extends downward into spurs that form a broken breast band. While most species of Arremon have green upperparts, the upperparts of Golden-winged Sparrow are largely gray, with green restricted to a well defined patch on the back and scapulars. In subspecies canidorsum, of the upper Magdalena Valley of Colombia, the upperparts are entirely gray, with no green at all. The underparts are whitish, with gray flanks and a bright white throat. Golden-winged Sparrow lives in open deciduous woodland or dry second growth, from the lowlands up to about 1400 m. It feeds on or just above the ground. The breeding period is not well known, but it is apparently in the wet season as this is the time that singing activity increases. The song of Golden-winged Sparrow is a high, thin series of repeated notes: soot soot soot see.