- Sporophila intermedia
Identification
11 cm (4¼ in)
- Pale bill
- Rounded culmen
- Grey overall plumage
Females and young birds brownish with dusky bills
Similar Species
Often confused with Slate-coloured Seedeater, a rare species with a distinctive bill morphology. Grey has more of a "standard" large Sporophila bill, with the lower mandible only a bit higher than the upper, and a more strongly curved culmen than in Slate-coloured. Less reliable differences include Grey's duller yellow bill which may have dark markings. Grey has a smaller eye and may appear dull grey rather than bluish.
Distribution
Trinidad and South America
South America: Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Brazil.
On a local scale, Gray Seedeater and Wing-barred Seedeater seems to exclude each others presence.
Taxonomy
Gray Seedeater, Variable Seedeater, and Wing-barred Seedeater are best viewed as a superspecies of closely related species.
Subspecies
There are 3 subspecies[1]:
- S. i. bogotensis (agustini):
- Colombia (Western Andes, Magdalena and Cauca valleys)
- S. i. anchicayae:
- Colombia (valley of the Río Anchicayá in Valle)
- S. i. intermedia:
Habitat
Urban and rural regions. Grassy areas, dry to humid habitat, gallery forest borders.
Behaviour
Diet
Their main diet consists of seeds, with nectar and small arthropods also taken.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2018. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2018. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Avibase
- SACC proposal to recognize Caqueta Seedeater
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved May 2014)
- Gray Seedeater (Sporophila intermedia), In Neotropical Birds Online (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. retrieved from Neotropical Birds Online: https://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/Species-Account/nb/species/grysee1
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Gray Seedeater. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 15 January 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Gray_Seedeater
