Critically Endangered
Antioquia Brush Finch
Atlapetes blancae
Antioquia Brush Finch is a perching bird in the family Passerellidae (order Passeriformes) — Atlapetes blancae, recorded as Critically Endangered.
Appearance
A. Blancae is as a large finch with grey plumage. Dark grey feathers on its back and tail, with whitish grey on its breast, stomach and throat. It has a reddish-brown crown, a black mask and a narrow pale line along the side of its face called a moustachial stripe. The bird has nine primaries, with some individuals also displaying a small white patch on their wing called a speculum.
Individuals have been reported to weigh an average of 27.91 g (0.98 oz), have a wing length around 71.75 mm (2.82 in), and a tail length of 77.75 mm (3.06 in). It was scientifically described in 2007 on basis of three museum specimens from Antioquia, Colombia, that were previously mislabelled as slaty brushfinches (Atlapetus schistaceus).
Range and habitat
No country pin is stored for Antioquia Brush Finch on this catalog. That is a missing field, not proof the animal has no range.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Diet and breeding
The birds were observed foraging for invertebrates by stripping both larval and adult insects off plants, as well as pecking in wood to find them. Reproductive activity in A. Blancae is at its highest in May, though breeding season generally spans from late February to early August.
The observed nest was 10 cm wide, 9.5 cm long, 8 cm high, 5 cm deep, and contained two eggs that had white and reddish-brown spots concentrated towards the base. The male and female appear to have distinct breeding roles, where males guard the nest, emitting territorial calls and the female incubates the eggs.
In crisis
Despite recent research attempts, much of what is known of the species remains preliminary. The species is considered critically endangered by the IUCN Red List, with only 405 individuals living in a small, highly fragmented area of 322 hectares. The bird's decline is primarily attributed to habitat loss from agriculture and pastureland expansion.
Additionally, the population is distributed in two isolated patches, further increasing the risk of inbreeding. Even so, despite their low population size, recent studies indicate a healthy sex ratio, with a 45% chance of being a male.
Antioquia Brush Finch is Critically Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Antioquia Brush Finch, Wikidata item Q580894. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
