This species has a yellow to dark olive head. The throat, chin, malar streak, lores, eye-ring, and ear patch are bright yellow in any case. The rest of the plumage is yellow with dark olive upperparts, wing and tail. The variation in the head color is not well explained, but it is likely that the olive-headed individuals are females and/or immature birds.[2]
Common name
It is sometimes still referred to by its obsolete common name, olive-headed brushfinch. That name is the result of an interesting error. A. flaviceps occurs in a very limited range, and is rare. Until the 1980s, it was known only from the two specimens collected on October 24 and 25, 1911, in the Toché River valley, and two additional specimens collected in 1942. Though the exact amount and brightness was variable in the few specimens, the bright yellow head of these birds was noted. It did not receive a standardized common name due to its rarity however, being only known to a few ornithologists for which the scientific name was sufficient. That name, however, duly referenced the striking color of the type specimen, an adult male.[2]
In 1987, the first photograph of a living A. flaviceps was published. It showed a bird with very little yellow on the head, and altogether gave the impression that this species had a mainly dusky olive head. Widely distributed in a popular field guide,[3] this photo led to the misleading common name, in use since the mid-20th century, becoming firmly established.[2]
When the species was rediscovered at the type locality in 1989, it was noted that some birds had the mainly dusky olive head seen in the photograph. But as far as can be told, at least the adult males have the largely bright yellow head that was referenced in the original description of this species. Thus, BirdLife International chose the common name "yellow-headed brushfinch" in 1992, and the AOU eventually followed suit.[2]
The common bush tanager, also referred to as common chlorospingus, is a small passerine bird. It is a resident breeder in the highlands from central Mexico south to Bolivia and northwest Argentina. C. flavopectus in the loose sense is a notorious cryptic species complex, and several of the up to 25 subspecies recognized in recent times are likely to be distinct species. Some populations in fact appear to be more distinct than several other members of Chlorospingus.
The yellow-thighed brushfinch is a passerine bird which is endemic to the highlands of Costa Rica and western Panama. Despite its name, it is not a true finch, but rather a member of the family Passerellidae, which also includes American sparrows, juncos and towhees.
The chestnut-capped brushfinch, is a Neotropical passerine bird in the New World sparrow Passerellidae
New World sparrows are a group of mainly New World passerine birds, forming the family Passerellidae. They are seed-eating birds with conical bills, brown or gray in color, and many species have distinctive head patterns.
Atlapetes is a genus of birds in the New World sparrow family Passerellidae. The species are mainly found in montane forest from Mexico to northwest Argentina.
The Cuzco brushfinch, also known as the grey brushfinch or sooty brushfinch, is a species of bird in the family Passerellidae. It is endemic to humid Andean forest in southeastern Peru, where mainly found in Cusco. It is sometimes considered a subspecies of the slaty brushfinch.
The dusky-headed brushfinch is a species of bird in the family Emberizidae. It is found in the Andes of southwestern Colombia.
The moustached brushfinch is a species of bird in the family Passerellidae.
The Merida brushfinch or Merida brush finch is a species of bird in the family Passerellidae, the New World sparrows. It is endemic to northwestern Venezuela.
The Choco brushfinch or Choco brush finch is a species of bird in the family Passerellidae, the New World sparrows. It is found in Colombia and Ecuador.
References
Dunning, John Stewart & Ridgely, Robert S. (1987): South American Birds: A Photographic Aid to Identification. Harrowood Books. ISBN0-915180-25-1
Losada-Prado, Sergio; González-Prieto, Ana María; Carvajal-Lozano, Angélica María & Molina-Martinez, Yair Guillermo (2005): Especies endémicas y amenazadas registradas en la cuenca del Río Coello (Tolima) durante estudios rápidos en 2003 [Endemic and threatened species recorded in the Rìo Coello watershed (Tolima) during rapid surveys in 2003]. Ornitología Colombiana3: 72-76 [Spanish with English abstract]. PDF fulltext
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