DOUBLE-COLLARED SEEDEATER Sporophila caerulescens
A tall grass stem bends under the weight of this little bird as it nips the ripe seeds from the tip. He clings expertly to his perch as it blows in the wind, using his massive bill to delicately select the tastiest morsels, manipulating them between his mandibles and discarding the husks. In most of the country he is the most familiar of the seedeaters, the pale bill and distinctive throat markings immediately identifying the male and the lack of white in the wing diagnostic of the female. Where food is plentiful he joins mixed flocks of other seed-eating birds, plundering the grass of its crop and flitting between stems to make the most of the bountiful harvest.
Click on the images to enlarge them.
FIGURE 1 - (FPAVE4132PH) Adult male, Encarnación Fería Municipal, Departamento Itapúa (Paul Smith October 2006).
FIGURE 2 - (FPAVE4133PH) Adult male, Arroyo Mboi Kae, Departamento Itapúa (Paul Smith July 2006).
FIGURE 3 - (FPAVE4134PH) Same individual upperwing (Paul Smith July 2006).
FIGURE 4 - (FPAVE4135PH) Adult female, Encarnación Fería Municipal, Departamento Itapúa (Paul Smith November 2006).
FIGURE 5 - (FPAVE4136PH) Adult female, Estancia Laguna Blanca, Departamento San Pedro (Paul Smith November).
FIGURE 6 - (FPAVE4137PH) Same individual upperwing (Paul Smith November).
FIGURE 7 - (FPAVE4138PH) Immature male, Encarnación Fería Municipal, Departamento Itapúa (Paul Smith November 2006).
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Sporophila caerulescens
1 (FPAVE4139RE) song recorded Aguara-Ñu, Mbaracayú Biosphere Reserve, Departamento Canindeyú (Juan Mazar Barnett January 1998).
2 (FPAVE4140RE)  song recorded Encarnación, Departamento Itapúa (Paul Smith October 2009).
Click the link to hear the call. Longer versions of this call can be downloaded from the Paraguay page of our partner website Xeno-Canto - the largest collection of freely downloadable Neotropical bird calls available online.
Gallery 2 - Sporophila caerulescens nest
A nest of this familiar seedeater was found on 2 February 2015 in an urban garden in Encarnación, Departamento Itapúa. It was at a height of approximately 2m, semi-concealed in a lemon tree and contained three large chicks close to fledging. The nest was a loosely woven but neat construction built entirely from dry grass and was barely wide enough to hold all the occupants. The cup was unlined. Though both parents attended the nest, the female was observed to do most of the feeding, arriving at the nest via a convoluted route during which she remained largely hidden. The male, posing prominently, often alarm called at the presence of an observer when the female was making her approach, presumably as a warning to her and as a distraction to the observer. The dimensions of the nest were: width 70 x 60mm, depth 42mm, width of nest rim 12mm. (All photos and text Paul Smith).
FIGURE 2a - (FPAVE4141PH) Nest.
FIGURE 2b - (FPAVE4142PH) Three near fledged chicks.
FIGURE 2c - (FPAVE4143PH) Fledgling on leaving the nest 4 February 2015.
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