Family Tanagers (Thraupidae)
Least Concern
Greenish Yellow-finch (Sicalis olivascens)
Taxonomy
French: Sicale olivâtre German: Olivbrust-Gilbtangare Spanish: Chirigüe oliváceo
Taxonomy:
Emberiza olivascens
d’Orbigny and Lafresnaye
, 1837,La Paz, Bolivia
.Until recently considered conspecific with S. mendozae. See also S. lebruni. Three subspecies recognized.
Subspecies and Distribution
S. o. salvini
(C. Chubb, 1919) – N Peru from La Libertad S to Huánuco.
S. o. chloris
Tschudi, 1846 – W & S Peru (Ancash S to Tacna) and N Chile (Arica–Parinacota S to Coquimbo).
S. o. olivascens
(d’Orbigny & Lafresnaye, 1837) – SE Peru (Cuzco and Puno) and W & C Bolivia S to NW Argentina (Salta and Jujuy S to N La Rioja).
Descriptive notes
12·5–14 cm; 20·4–24·2 g. A pot-bellied and stocky yellow-finch with relatively short tail, and thick-based, short bill with slightly curved culmen. Male nominate race has... read more
Voice
Song variable and siskin (Spinus)-like, 2–4 seconds in duration, a series of rough trills... read more
Habitat
In N of range found in shrubby puna, often on slopes, venturing to edges of villages or... read more
Food and feeding
Virtually no information on diet; appears to concentrate on foraging for seeds and in NW Argentina observed foraging on seeds of ... read more
Breeding
Egg dates Dec–Mar, during wet season, in S Peru, N Chile and N Argentina; fledglings in Jun in Bolivia (Cochabamba), suggesting later... read more
Movements
Sedentary in much of range, but seasonal elevational movements reported from Bolivia.
Status and conservation
Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Common to abundant in most of range, being the most numerous Sicalis in most areas of Chile, but considered to be generally... read more
Sedentary in much of range.
Sedentary in much of range. Argentine race mendozae partially migratory, most moving N to Salta in winter.
This sentence has to be editd, since mendozae now is a separate species. Jens Olesen