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Black-faced Grassquit

Melanospiza bicolor

Least Concern · IUCN Red List

LCLeast ConcernSeedsShrublandDomed nestTiny · 10 g
Black-faced Grassquit (Melanospiza bicolor), photo 1
Photo: Derek Duplessis · CC BY 4.0
Black-faced Grassquit (Melanospiza bicolor), photo 2
Photo: Derek Duplessis · CC BY 4.0
Black-faced Grassquit (Melanospiza bicolor), photo 3
Photo: chrisdt · CC BY 4.0
Black-faced Grassquit (Melanospiza bicolor), photo 4
Photo: chrisdt · CC BY 4.0
Black-faced Grassquit (Melanospiza bicolor), photo 5
Photo: Jan Ebr & Ivana Ebrová · CC BY 4.0
Black-faced Grassquit (Melanospiza bicolor), photo 6
Photo: Grete Pasch · CC BY 4.0
Black-faced Grassquit (Melanospiza bicolor), photo 7
Photo: Grete Pasch · CC BY 4.0
Black-faced Grassquit (Melanospiza bicolor), photo 8
Photo: Ligocsicnarf89 · CC BY 4.0
Black-faced Grassquit (Melanospiza bicolor), photo 9
Photo: Ligocsicnarf89 · CC BY 4.0
Black-faced Grassquit (Melanospiza bicolor), photo 10
Photo: no rights reserved · CC0

What the Black-faced Grassquit sounds like

Sonogram of the Black-faced Grassquit: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Rosa Elena Albornoz · Dawn song · Chacao (near Caracas), Chacao, Miranda, Venezuela · CC0 · via xeno-canto

ID tip

A male black-faced grassquit 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, and an olive green back. Females and immature birds have dull olive-grey upperparts and head, and paler grey underparts becoming whiter on the belly. Males on the South American mainland have more extensively black underparts, shading to a grey belly. The male has a display flight in which he flies for short distances, vibrating his wings and giving a buzzing dik-zeezeezee call.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to see the Black-faced Grassquit

One bar for each month, and every month is filled: this bird is recorded here in all twelve. The wide bar is October, the month with the most records.

Where to see the Black-faced Grassquit

Regular rangeRare visitor

The map shades 28 countries with regular records, and 1 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.

Puerto Rico Venezuela Colombia Guadeloupe Bahamas Aruba Curaçao Jamaica Caribbean Netherlands Grenada Barbados U.S. Virgin Islands Trinidad & Tobago St. Lucia St. Vincent & Grenadines Antigua & Barbuda Martinique Anguilla Dominica Haiti Montserrat Dominican Republic St. Kitts & Nevis St. Martin British Virgin Islands Turks & Caicos Islands St. Barthélemy Cuba

Recorded as a rare visitor in United States.

About the Black-faced Grassquit

The black-faced grassquit 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.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Easily confused with

St. Lucia Black Finch (Melanospiza richardsoni) St. Lucia Black FinchMelanospiza richardsoniThe Saint Lucia black finch is a small (13–14 cm; 18–23 g) brown or black finch-like bird with a strong black bill.

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