Buff-throated Saltator
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The Buff-throated Saltator, Saltator maximus, is a seedeating bird in the same family as the cardinal family. It breeds from southeastern Mexico to western Ecuador and northeastern Brazil.
This is a species of dense vegetation. Two pale blue eggs are laid in a bulky cup nest up to 2 m high in a tree or bush.
The Buff-throated Saltator is on average 20 cm long and weighs 42-52 g. The adult has a slate-grey head with a white supercilium and a greenish crown. The upperparts are olive green, the underparts are grey becoming buff on the lower belly, and the throat is buff, edged with black. The thick convex bill and legs are black. Young birds are duller, and have a white-mottled blackish throat and breast, and brown markings on the lower underparts.
The common call is a high seeeer. Males duet melodiously with a warbled cheery cheery answered by cheery to you.
The Buff-throated Saltator feeds on fruit, buds, nectar and slow-moving insects. It forages at low and mid levels, sometimes with mixed species flocks.
References
- BirdLife International (2004). [Saltator maximus]. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
- Hilty, Birds of Venezuela, ISBN 0-7136-6418-5
- Stiles and Skutch, A guide to the birds of Costa Rica ISBN 0-0814-9600-4
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