The blackish-blue seedeater (''Amaurospiza moesta'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Cardinalidae Cardinalidae (often referred to as the "cardinal-grosbeaks" or simply the "cardinals") is a family of New World-endemic passerine birds that consists of cardinals, grosbeaks, and buntings. It also includes several birds such as the tanager-like ...

, the cardinals or cardinal grosbeaks. It is found in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, and

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The blackish-blue seedeater is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

. It and the other members of genus ''Amaurospiza'' were traditionally placed in family

Emberizidae The buntings are a group of Old World passerine birds forming the genus ''Emberiza'', the only genus in the family Emberizidae. The family contains 45 species. They are seed-eating birds with stubby, conical bills. Taxonomy The family Emberizid ...

. (At that time, the family included the

New World sparrow New World sparrows are a group of mainly New World passerine birds, forming the family Passerellidae. They are seed-eating birds with conical bills, brown or gray in color, and many species have distinctive head patterns. Although they share t ...

s, which are now in their own family Passerellidae.) Since approximately 2008 they have been placed in their current family.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 19 January 2021. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved January 19, 2021R. Terry Chesser, Richard C. Banks, F. Keith Barker, Carla Cicero, Jon L. Dunn, Andrew W. Kratter, Irby J. Lovette, Pamela C. Rasmussen, J. V. Remsen, Jr., James D. Rising, Douglas F. Stotz, and Kevin Winker. "Fiftieth supplement to the American Ornithological Society’s ''Check-list of North American Birds''". ''The Auk'' 2009, vol. 126:705-714 retrieved May 15, 2021

Description

The blackish-blue seedeater is long and weighs . The male is entirely dark slaty blue that is darker on the face and underparts. The female is tawny brown, with the underparts paler than the upperparts.Rising, J. D., A. Jaramillo, G. M. Kirwan, and E. de Juana (2020). Blackish-blue Seedeater (''Amaurospiza moesta''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman, B. K. Keeney, P. G. Rodewald, and T. S. Schulenberg, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.blbsee3.01 retrieved May 16, 2021

Distribution and habitat

The blackish-blue seedeater is primarily found in southeastern Brazil and adjoining eastern Paraguay and northeastern Argentina. However, there are also scattered records further north in Brazil. It inhabits the undergrowth and edges of woodland and is especially partial to ''Chusquea'' and ''Guadua'' bamboo. In elevation it ranges from sea level to .

Behavior

Feeding

The blackish-blue seedeater's diet is primarily bamboo seeds, and it probably eats other seeds and insects as well. It forages singly or in pairs from the ground up to about above it.

Breeding

Blackish-blue seedeaters in breeding condition or adults feeding young have been observed in April, August, September, November, and December. This suggests that breeding may not be seasonal but relies on the availability of bamboo seed.

Vocalization

The blackish-blue seedeater's song is "a pleasant warble

and its calls sound like "psit" or "pix".

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has not assessed the blackish-blue seedeater. However, "

t has T, or t, is the twentieth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is deri ...

been suggested that this species’ population is in gradual decline owing to continuing habitat degradation and loss."

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1433119

blackish-blue seedeater The blackish-blue seedeater (''Amaurospiza moesta'') is a species of bird in the family Cardinalidae, the cardinals or cardinal grosbeaks. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. Taxonomy and systematics The blackish-blue seedeater is ...

Birds of Brazil Birds of the Atlantic Forest

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot