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Capped Seedeater (Sporophila bouvreuil)
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Brazil Seedeaters, particularly females, are notoriously difficult to identify properly and Capped Seedeaters are slightly more complicated given the colour variations of the subspecies.
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Capped Seedeaters are found from the mouth of the Amazon south to Rio Grande do Sul and west to Goiás and Mato Grosso do Sul. They are found in tall grasslands and open cerrado normally close to water or marshlands. The first photo, taken in south-east Pará, shows a male of the nominate subspecies S. b. bouvreuil while the second, taken in Emas N.P., Goiás, shows, I believe, a male of the southern subspecies S. b. pileata. |
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The male of this subspecies has whitish rather than cinnamon-brown underparts. It also has the typical black cap and white speculum. A further complication of this species is that the male has an eclipse plumage just after the breeding season. The third photo is of a female
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| The name "bouvreuil" comes from the French name for the Bullfinch. There are illustrations in Ridgely & Tudor, Volume 1, Plate 26 and in Sick, Plate 43.
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