Laboratório de Tecnologia Educacional BIBLIOTECA DIGITAL               DE CIÊNCIAS

Physical appearence: 12cm. The upper parts are grayish with black and ferruginous stripes The chest is light brown with spots in the immature. There are yellow ribbons above the eyes and in the wings. The coloration may change when it is dirty due to contact with earth. Distribution: The Grassland Sparrow is found east of the Andes from Colombia to central Argentina but is missing from the Amazon Basin upstream from the Tapajós river. Habitat: Dry fields with grass, cerrado and crops. Diet: Feeds on grains and small insects. Reproduction: During the breeding season they live in pairs in a territory defended by the male. The nest is opened and placed on the ground. The eggs are ...

15 cm. It is a small sparrow with the head striated in black and white. There is a topknot and a rufous collar around the neck that is more evident in the male. The back and the wings are brown. The immature does not have bands in the head. Cinnamon and albine mutations are not uncommon. Distribution: From Mexico to Tierra del Fuego. Absent in dense forests. Habitat: Fields, crops, woods, gardens and parks in cities. Diet: Insects, seeds and occasionally human leftovers. Licks the sweet liquid produced by aphids. Reproduction: The couple establishes a territory that is fiercely protected by the male. The nest is built in short bushes or even on the ground among tall grass. The n...

Physical appearance: 17,5 cm. The male is bluish black with the forehead and chest chestnut. The female is olive brown streaked in brown in the upper parts. The immature is brown and striated. Distribution: Eastern South America from French Guyana to northern Argentina and as far west as Mato Grosso and eastern Bolivia. Habitat: Lives in humid grasslands, wetlands and ponds. Diet: Feeds mainly on insects and seeds, but also on fruits. Reproduction: Often nests in groups. The nest is built in a fork of a tree. Both male and female build the nest watering the material before using it. The nest is a deep basket. Natural history: The vocalization is melodic and commonly the predomi...

48cm Identification: the body is mostly cinnamon with dark streaks on the wings. It may be locally the commonest duck, especially in Southern Brazil wetlands, where its hunting is allowed provided the state’s quotas are respected. Regarding its habitat this species tends occur in open wetlands, surrounded by grasslands. Feeds mainly by grazing small grasses on the lake shores or underwater but also eats aquatic plants, aquatic insects and small fish. It may build the nest either in a tree hole or on the aquatic plants. The female lays from 8 to 14 eggs that are sat for about one month. The offspring start to fly within 55 days after hatching.

18,5 cm. The upper parts are greenish brown, the throat is white and the belly yellow. The tip of the tail is buffy. Male and female are similar. Distribution: From Venezuela to Argentina. Mideastern Brazil. Migrates seasonaly in southern Brazil. Habitat: Open fields, grasslands, grazing lands and parks in urban areas. Diet: Catches insects on the ground and sometimes in trees. Follows cattle to feed on insects displaced by its movement. Reproduction: Builds a nest made of branches about 4m from the ground. May use nests abandoned by the hornero (Furnarius rufus). The white eggs are incubated by the couple. Natural history: When on the ground runs for some meters then stops t...

Unmistakably identifiable for being the only Brazilian member of the family to present the white color in its plumage. Belonging to the same family of the legendary Egyptian Ibis, this is certainly an amazing species. Unlike other members of the family it is not associated to water, living in open grasslands and crops where its large silhouette makes it impossible not to be noticed, especially when they gather in groups. It uses its large curved beak to catch invertebrates burried in the soil and may also prey on small vertebrates. Its song is very loud and acute, reminding that of the Seriema ( Cariama cristata ). Couples sing in duets bouncing their heads upwards as they sing. The ...

10 cm. It is very small, smaller than a sparrow. The feet are relatively big. The back and wings are brown and the ventral part white barred in black. The forehead of the male is red, while the female’s is black with white dots. In the immature the head is all brown. Can be told apart from the White-Barred Piculet ( Picumnus cirratus ) for having an ochraceous region around the neck and for being darker, mainly on the upper parts. Distribution: Southeastern Brazil and spread southwards up to Argentina. Habitat: Forest edges, gallery and secondary forests, woods, parks and gardens in big cities. Diet: Feeds mainly on ants larvae and pupae, but also on other insects. Reproduction...

58 cm in length, 125cm of wingspan. The beak and the claws are weak for a bird of prey. The legs are tall and yellow. The upper parts are black and the chest and throat are white. There is a large white spot in the inferior side near the tip of the wing. The immature is brown and striated. Distribution: From Florida (U.S.A) to Tierra del Fuego. Habitat: Thrives in any open landscape, sometimes urban areas. Diet: It is generalist. Eats either live animals or carrion. Catches insects, snails, worms, lizards, snakes, birds. Follows tractors in crops looking for earthworms.. Sometimes eats fruits, peanuts and beans. Reproduction: Builds a big nest on the top of tall trees. Lays three ...

There are three other very similar species from the same genus in Brazil. The females and imature individuals are nearly impossible to tell apart, as they are light brown with some darker streaks. The Saffron Finch can be distinguished from the other species for the saffron color, mostly in the breeding season. The Orange-fronted Yellow Finch ( S. columbiana) is smaller than the Saffron Finch, the Stripe-tailed Yellow Finch (S. citrina) has greenish patches on the upper parts and the Grassland Yellow Finch (S. luteola) has brownish spots even in the head. One of the countryside’s most famous birds, the Saffron Finch’s song is unique for its beaty and complexity. Unfortunately its song...

25 cm. The supercilium is white. The plumage usually shows traces of earth. The male is slightly larger than the female and the belly is lighter. Distribution: From Canada to Tierra del Fuego. Habitat: Open fields, grasslands and suburbs, sometimes in soccer fields. Diet: Feeds mainly on beetles, but also other arthropods. Also consumes small vertebrates. Reproduction: The nest is a deep hole in the ground (1,5 to 3m of depth). Although it is able of digging its own hole it generally uses the ones dug by other animals as the armadillos. The couple lines the nest with grass and dry manure. The female lays up to four eggs. The female incubates and the male takes care of the brood. ...

12,5 cm. The male’s upper parts are dark gray. The face and a ribbon around the neck (the collar) are black. The posterior part of the throat, the belly and a narrow band around the eye are white, sometimes buffy. The color of the beak varies individually. The female and the Young males are brown with the inferior parts lighter. Distribution: From Bahia to Rio Grande do Sul, Uruguay, Argentina to Peru. Habitat: Grasslands, crops. They sleep in tall grass and sugar cane crops were they may bend the stems with their weight. Diet: Feeds on grains. Follows the expansion of seed producing grasses, thus invading new areas as the Distrito Federal. Frequently eats arthropods such as inse...

11 cm. The body of the male is dark gray in the upper parts, with the face and anterior part of the throat black. The posterior part of the throat and the belly are white, as well as the spots on the sides of the head. The female is brown with the belly lighter. It is thinner than the female of the double collar seedeater Sporophila caerulescens, the tail is longer, the beak smaller with the inferior part buffy. The young individuals are also brown. Distribution: From Guianas to Argentina and Paraguay. In Brazil from the north to São Paulo, Mato Grosso and Goiás. Habitat: Grasslands, open fields, crops and secondary forest borders. Diet: Grains. Reproduction: The couple lives ...

Just like other seedeaters, it is practically impossible to tell this species apart from the brownish females, virtually identical to the other seedeaters’ females. Nevertheless the males present the chest and the head in black, the upper parts dark brown and the belly is yellow or beige. Its behavior is very similar to other seedeaters and may form mixed groups with other species when not breeding. It is less urban than the Double-collared and the Lined Seedeaters, being more common in grasslands and grain crops. May be raised as a cage bird. In the breeding season the couples split from the groups. The nest is a low bow made of grasses and the female usually lays 2 or 3 eggs.

There is still some debate on this bird’s taxonomic status. The Brazilian Official Bird List considers two species, the Suiriri Flycatcher, with two subspecies, the Chaco Suiriri, and the Campo one, which differs from the previous for having a yellowish rump, instead of grayish, and there is the recently described Chapada Suiriri ( Suiriri islerorum ), similar to the Campo one (possibly hybridizing with it) but with a smaller beak and white in the tip of the tail. Very little is known about this species. It is mostly solitary and uses the same hunting techniques of most other flycatchers, that consist basically of catching flying insects few meters away from its perching site and retur...

35 cm. The eyes and the legs are red. Has a topknot in the head and a spur in each wing. There is a black band in the throat that begins in the forehead and ends in the chest. The belly is white, the back and the wings are grayish brown and there are green and ferruginous spots in the wings. Distribution: From Panama to Tierra del Fuego. Habitat: Grasslands, open fields, lawns and sometimes soccer fields. Diet: Insects that it catches on the ground. Sometimes catches small fish in shallow wetlands. Reproduction: The nest is made of dry leaves (mainly grass) and placed in a small depression on the ground. Each male may have two females laying their eggs in the same nest. The femal...

11 cm. The beak is grey. During the breeding season the male has bluish black feathers with white spots under the wings. When not breeding the feathers are black with white tips. The female is light brown. The subadult males are similar to the non-breeding adult but with the tip of the feather brown. Distribution: From Mexico to tropical South America. Habitat: Grasslands and open areas, sometimes inside cities. Diet: Feeds on seeds and insects. Reproduction: The male has a very typical breeding display. Perched in a branch it flies some 50cm upwards and comes back to the branch in a loop-like movement. During this display it shows its white feathers below the wings. When it fi...