Black-faced Grassquit
Description
The black-faced grassquit (Melanospiza bicolor) is a small bird. It is recognized as a tanager closely related to Darwin's finches. It breeds in the West Indies except Cuba, on Tobago but not Trinidad, and along the northern coasts of Colombia and Venezuela.
A male black-faced grassquits is around 10 cm (3.9 in) long and weighs approximately 10 g (0.35 oz). It has a short conical black bill, a black head and breast with an olive green back. Females and immature birds have dull olive-grey upperparts and head, and paler grey underparts becoming whiter on the belly.
Distribution & Habitat
The Black-faced Grassquit occurs from northern South
America through the West
Indies, where it is a common
resident species in Puerto Rico
(Oberle 2018, Raffaele and others
1998), Culebra (Ventosa-Febles
and others 2005), and Vieques
(Gemmill 2015). This species
is common in urban areas and
open areas with grasses and
shrubs including gardens, road
edges, and forest clearings
(Oberle 2018, Raffaele and
others 1998). The atlas fieldwork
yielded a total of 861 records
within 400 hexagons or 84 percent of the 479 total hexagons
(see map). Of the 400 hexagons
where this species was found,
breeding met the atlas definition
of confirmed in 20 percent (78)
of the hexagons, probable in
50 percent (199), and possible in
31 percent (123) (see map). Black-faced Grassquit distribution. The map shows the highest breeding code by hexagon and overlaying the ecological life zones
in Puerto Rico. Note: percentages may not total 100 due to rounding.
Breeding Habits
Previously published reports indicate that the Black-faced
Grassquit breeds year-round
(Raffaele and others 1998). Atlas
results show that the breeding
season for this species extends
throughout the year, but it is
most active from March through 285Black-faced Grassquit/Gorrión NegroJune, with a peak in May (see chart). Results show that the
Black-faced Grassquit breeds
in all ecological life zones but
mostly within the subtropical
moist, subtropical dry, and
subtropical wet forest life zones
(59, 21, and 20 percent of the
hexagons, respectively), while
breeding activity has also been
reported for one hexagon in the
subtropical rain forest life zone
(see table and map).
Conservation
The population of the Black-faced Grassquit is listed as a
species of least concern by the
IUCN (BirdLife International
2018). Locally, this species is not
listed in any of the threatened
categories used by PRDNER
and USFWS. In Puerto Rico,
the Black-faced Grassquit has
a protected habitat in land
of 12 percent or 1102 km2 of the total area covered by the
hexagons where evidence of
breeding was found for this
species (9565 km2). Note this area is larger than the total
terrestrial area of the island
because coastal hexagons and
those hexagons covering small
cays include a portion of water.
Related Species
Family:
tanager