PEARLY-BELLIED SEEDEATER Sporophila pileata
Though it is generally uncommon over most of its range, in undisturbed areas of native grassland this species can at times be the most abundant member of the mixed seedeater flocks. This species has recently been split from the Capped Seedeater Sporophila bouvreuil, which occurs further north in the Concepción area and whose males are similar other than for their cinnamon-coloured underparts!
Click on the images to enlarge them.
FIGURE 1 - (FPAVE669PH) Adult male dorsal view, location unknown (Arne Lesterhuis undated).
FIGURE 2 - (FPAVE670PH) Adult male ventral view, Estancia Kanguery, PN San Rafael (Paul Smith November 2007).
FIGURE 3 - (FPAVE3100PH) Adult male ventral view, Estancia Kanguery, PN San Rafael (Matt Denton October 2010).
FIGURE 4 - (FPAVE671PH) Adult male ventral view, Estancia Kanguery, PN San Rafael (Silvia Centrón undated).
FIGURE 5 - (FPAVE672PH) Adult male ventral view, Estancia Kanguery, PN San Rafael (Silvia Centrón undated).
FIGURE 6 - (FPAVE676PH) Subadult male, Estancia Kanguery, PN San Rafael (Sylvia Centrón undated).
FIGURE 7 - (FPAVE3734PH) Adult female, Estancia Kanguery, PN San Rafael (Paul Smith October 2012).
VIDEO A - (FPAVE677VI) Adult male ventral view, Estancia Kanguery, PN San Rafael (Paul Smith October 2010).
VIDEO B - (FPAVE3736VI) Variant male feeding, Estancia Kanguery, PN San Rafael (Paul Smith October 2012).
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Designed by Paul Smith 2006. This website is copyrighted by law.
Material contained herewith may not be used without the prior written permission of FAUNA Paraguay.
Material on this page was provided by Paul Smith, Sylvia Centrón, Matt Denton and Arne Lesterhuis and is used with their permission.
Sporophila pileata
1  (FPAVE678RE) Song of male recorded Estancia Kanguery, PN San Rafael (Paul Smith November 2007).
2  (FPAVE679RE) Call of male recorded Estancia Kanguery, PN San Rafael (Paul Smith November 2007).
Click the link to hear the call. Longer versions of this call can be downloaded from the Paraguay page of our partner website www.xeno-canto.com - the largest collection of freely downloadable Neotropical bird calls available online.
Gallery 2: Plumage variants
Sporophila seedeaters insist on being variable to confuse the observer. The plumage variants illustrated above presumably are referable to this species.
FIGURE 2a - (FPAVE673PH) Brown variant male, Isla Yacyreta, Departamento Misiones (Paul Smith October 2009).
FIGURE 2b - (FPAVE674PH) Same individual (Paul Smith October 2009).
FIGURE 2c - (FPAVE3735PH) Grey-capped male, Lagunita, Mbaracayú Biosphere Reserve, Departamento Canindeyú (Paul Smith October 2012).
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