The large-footed finch (''Pezopetes capitalis'') is a

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by t ...

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 ...

endemic to the highlands of

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

and western

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

. Despite its name, it is not a true finch, but rather a member of the large family Passerellidae, which also includes

American 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, juncos and

towhee A towhee is any one of a number of species of birds in the genus ''Pipilo'' or ''Melozone'' within the family Passerellidae (which also includes American sparrows, and juncos). Towhees typically have longer tails than other Passerellidae. Most ...

s. It is the only member of the genus ''Pezopetes''. This is a common bird in the undergrowth of mountain forests, second growth,

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, bu ...

clumps, and scrubby pastures from 2150 m altitude to the scrubby

páramo Páramo () can refer to a variety of alpine tundra ecosystems located in the Andes Mountain Range, South America. Some ecologists describe the páramo broadly as "all high, tropical, montane vegetation above the continuous timberline". A narrower ...

at 3350 m. It is readily seen in favoured sites such as Cerro de la Muerte. The nest, built by the female, is a large loose

cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay, ...

of plant material placed less than 2 m up in

or a dense shrub. The typical clutch is one or two brown-marked white or blue-white eggs, which are incubated by the female alone for 12–14 days before hatching. The large-footed finch is a large, robust terrestrial species, long and weighing . It has a slender bill, a modestly sized tail and very large and powerful feet and legs. This species is one of the heaviest in its diverse family.''CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses'' by John B. Dunning Jr. (Editor). CRC Press (1992), . The adult has a slate grey head, becoming black on the throat, forehead and crown sides. The upper parts are dark olive and the wings and tail are black with olive fringes. The underparts are bright olive with a brown tint to the flanks and lower belly. Young birds have a streaked dark olive head, blackish scaling to the upperparts, and buff-olive underparts . The large-footed finch has a thin ''seet'' call, and the male's song, given from the ground or a low perch, consists of a mix or whistles, warbles, chatter and mimicry. The large-footed finch feeds on

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

s, and seeds, extracted from the leaf litter with powerful double scratches that can send debris flying up to 30 cm. It will also pick berries from low bushes. It is normally seen in pairs.

References

* Stiles and Skutch, ''A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica'', {{Taxonbar, from1=Q2614094, from2=Q10804869 large-footed finch Birds of the Talamancan montane forests large-footed finch