Patagonian Sierra-Finch

Comesebo Patagónico

Phrygilus patagonicus

Length: 160mm. Sexes slightly unlike. Male: bill dark bluish grey above, pale-blue grey on mandible; iris dark brown; head, chin and throat bluish grey, hind neck and back rusty chestnut; lower back and rump rusty yellow; uppertail coverts bluish grey; tail feathers blackish with bluish grey margins. Breast, belly and flanks rusty yellow that is deeper on flanks; lower belly and undertail coverts whitish. Wing coverts bluish grey, remiges blackish with bluish grey margins. Legs pale chestnut brown.

Average weight: 26.5 g. Female: head bluish grey with blackish streaks and two fine moustaches in same colour; back olivaceous chestnut; remainder of plumage as male, but slightly paler. Juveniles are similar to females. Habitat and behaviour: the Patagonian Sierra-Finch inhabits the moist forests and scrubland of the Andes. It is notably tame, and is often found in pairs or in not very large groups. It feeds on fruits and seeds, often coming close to human dwellings where it pecks on strips of tallow that hang from the eaves in country homes. It utters a contact and alarm call which consists of short and repeated notes, and during the breeding season it also has a musical vocalisation. It nests at low height, among the vegetation or in cavities in trunks. The nest is a simple cup-shaped construction, up to four bluish green eggs with brownish speckles being laid. Range: it is distributed in the extended narrow subantarctic woodland strip and adjacent areas, from Neuquén to Tierra del Fuego.