Superciliaried Hemispingus

Overview

The superciliaried hemispingus (Thlypopsis superciliaris) is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae found throughout most of the Andes. It is classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

Identification

• Length of 13–14 cm and a weight of 11–17 g.
• Possesses a distinctive supercilium, or eyebrow stripe, as suggested by its specific epithet derived from the Latin for "eyebrowed".
• Shows non-clinal variation in the color of the underparts and supercilium among its seven recognised subspecies.

Habitat

Native to the Andes from Venezuela through Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru to Bolivia, it is absent only from the western versant of the Colombian Andes. It inhabits subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, woodland edges, and degraded former forests, typically at elevations between 1,900 and 3,350 m, though it can reach up to 3,700 m in Ecuador.

Did you know?

The species was formally described in 1840 by the French ornithologist Frédéric de Lafresnaye based on a specimen from what is now Bogotá, Colombia.