The Cuzco brushfinch (''Atlapetes canigenis''), also known as the grey brushfinch or sooty brushfinch, 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 Passerellidae. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to humid Andean

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

in southeastern

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

, where mainly found in

Cusco Cusco, often spelled Cuzco (; qu, Qusqu ()), is a city in Southeastern Peru near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region and of the Cusco Province. The city is the list of cities in Peru, seventh m ...

. It is sometimes considered a

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

of the

slaty brushfinch The slaty brushfinch (''Atlapetes schistaceus'') is a species of bird in the family Passerellidae. It is found in humid Andean forests from western Venezuela, through Colombia, to Ecuador, with a disjunct population in central Peru. The latter i ...

Description

Brushfinches are typically medium-size sparrows, with long tails. Brushfinches are usually gray or olive in colour with a contrasting crown. Cuzco brushfinches are two-toned with a uniform dusky gray and a rufous crown. The center of the belly, as well as the other underparts, are lighter gray than the outside, which is dark gray and the rufous color extends to the nape. The crown is boarded by a black stripe extending from in front of the eyes until the gray auriculars. The tail and wings are blackish with the

primaries Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the c ...

margined slightly with a grayish external. There is a slight fulvous or tawny tint to the remiges most external parts. One important note is that the Cuzco brushfinch shows considerable variation with the intensity of gray in the underparts - some almost uniformly dark gray below and others that are pale gray with grayish-white abdomens. Males and females are extremely similar in colour, with the female being slightly smaller.

Measurements

Adults: Male: wing , tail 78 mm, tarsus , culmen Female: wing , tail 72 mm, tarsus 25 mm, culmen 15 mm

Taxonomy

The Cuzco brushfinch is a species in the genus '' Atlapetes'' - along with 30 others. This genus is in the under-class Aves, order passeriformes (songbirds) and family Emberizidae. The Cuzco brushfinch has been denoted in 1919 by Chapman as ''Atlapetes canigenis''. In 1938 ''canigenis'' was categorized as a subspecies of

. However, ''Canigenis'' is in a

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

that contains other taxa of ''Atlapetes'' from southern Peru and Bolivia, such as ''Atlapetes melanolaemus'' (black-faced brush-finch), ''Atlapetes melanopsis'' (black-spectacled brush-finch) and ''Atlapetes forbesi'' (Apurimac brush-finch), and is not as closely related to ''schistaceus'' as once thought. Remsen and Graves (1995) later predicted that the populations of the slaty brushfinch are not

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...

but rather have a closer relatedness to the parapatric populations of rufous-naped brushfinch. This species had population distributed from northwestern Venezuela to Bolivia. Many brushfinches occur in this area; for example, ''A. mfinucha rerborghi'', ''A. schistaceus canigenis'' and ''A. mfinucha tnelnizolaernus'', which all have a similarly rather poorly developed malar stripe. However this does not imply a close relationship, despite all looking very similar and having a similar habitat. Paynter (1978) hypothesised no close relationship between ''A. melanolaemus'' and ''A. canigenis''.

Distribution and habitat

Distribution

The Cuzco brushfinch is native to the Americas. More specifically it is an

of south-central

where it is found in montane areas of the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

. The known elevation range for this brushfinch is approximately above sea level. They are mostly seen in the surrounding areas of

Habitat

There is very little information on the specific habitat of the Cuzco brushfinch. They do tend to reside in the humid

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...

zone of the Andes, as they thrive in humid

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

on the slopes.

Behavior

Vocalization

The Cuzco brushfinch has complex series of high-pitched squeaks. It is described as "shrill trill followed by a chatter and ''tew-tew-tew swee swee''". Their “

dawn song Dawn Song is a Chinese American academic and is a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department. She received a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in 2010. Education Song earn ...

” was defined as the varied phrases given at regular intervals by the male alone, mainly or only at dawn and is different than a duet call. They are also known to include loud drawn out notes.

Diet

Undocumented, but most likely it will eat a mixture of terrestrial invertebrates, seeds, and small fruits and berries. They have been seen to eat seeds from a tree. Similar species have been documented as a group to the sub-canopy type foragers.

Reproduction

Very little is documented about the nest and eggs of the Cuzco brushfinch. It is presumed that the nest is a cup. This species is seen very actively breeding at altitudes of , meaning that they probably stay in their normal habitat for this.

References

External links

Cuzco Brush Finch song
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1924690 Cuzco brush finch Birds of the Peruvian Andes Endemic birds of Peru Cuzco brush finch Taxonomy articles created by Polbot