| Blue seedeater | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Cardinalidae |
| Genus: | Amaurospiza |
| Species: | A. concolor |
| Binomial name | |
| Amaurospiza concolor Cabanis, 1861 | |
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Theblue seedeater (Amaurospiza concolor) orCabanis's seedeater is aspecies of bird in thecardinalfamily that is found in southernMexico andCentral America. TheEcuadorian seedeater (Amaurospiza aequatorialis) was formerly considered asubspecies of the blue seedeater.
The blue seedeater wasformally described in 1861 by the German ornithologistJean Cabanis based on a specimen that had been collected in Costa Rica. Cabanis placed the species in a new genusAmaurospiza and coined thebinomial name Amaurospiza concolor.[1][2] The specific epithet isLatin meaning "uniform", "similar in colour" or "plain".[3]
The blue seedeater was formerly considered to beconspecific with theEcuadorian seedeater. Most authorities now treat the Ecuadorian seedeateras a separate species. This is based largely on the results ofmolecular phylogenetic studies that were published in 2014 and 2023.[4][5][6][7][8] Confusingly, as of January 2024,BirdLife International uses the scientific nameA. moesta for blue seedeater. The BirdLife account encompasses what are now the blue, Ecuadorian, and blackish-blue seedeaters.[9]
Two subspecies are recognised:[6]
The blue seedeater is 11.5 to 14 cm (4.5 to 5.5 in) long and weighs 12 to 15 g (0.42 to 0.53 oz). The nominate male is entirely slate blue. The female's upperparts are cinnamon and the underparts tawny. The maleA. c. relicta is more slaty (less blue) than the nominate and has black lores; the female is a paler cinnamon.[10]
The songs and calls have been transcribed in several ways.[10] A song from Chiapas, Mexico, is[1]. One from Panama is[2]. A call from Puebla, Mexico, is[3] and one from Panama is[4].
The nominate blue seedeater is found fromChiapas in southern Mexico through Central America to western and central Panama.A. c. relicta is found in six southwestern Mexico states,Jalisco,Colima,Morelos,Puebla,Guerrero andOaxaca. The species inhabits openings in and edges of humidmontane andsecondary forest. It most often is found at sites with bamboo. In northern Central America it ranges in elevation from 600 to 2,500 m (2,000 to 8,200 ft) but in Costa Rica inhabits the narrower range of 1,700 to 2,200 m (5,600 to 7,200 ft).[10]
The blue seedeater's diet includes insects, seeds, and bamboo shoots.[10]
The only known blue seedeater nest was found in Mexico. It was a cup of coarse grass lined with finer grass placed in the fork of a slender branch. It contained two seedeater eggs and one of thebrood parasitebronzed cowbird (Molothrus aeneus).[10]
TheIUCN has not assessed the blue seedeater.
