Ruddy breasted Seedeater (Sporophila minuta)

[order] Passeriformes | [family] Emberizidae | [latin] Sporophila minuta | [UK] Ruddy-breasted Seedeater | [FR] Sporophile petit-louis | [DE] Zwergpfaffchen | [ES] Espiguero Castano | [IT] Beccasemi pettorugginoso | [NL] Dwergdikbekje

Male has upper parts borwnish grey and the under parts all rufous chestnut. Wings and tail blackish, with a small white patch on wngs. The female is dull buff brown above and buff below. The trhoat and center of belly are pale buff.

It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela.

Its natural habitats are dry savanna, subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, and heavily degraded former forest.

Clutch sie is 2 eggs, the nest is a small open cup made of and lined with fine grasses. It is built just above ground in long grass or low shrubs. Will incubate all throughout the year.

Mainly grass seeds

This species has a large range, with an estimated global extent of occurrence of 2,300,000 km². The global population size has not been quantified, but it is believed to be large as the species is described as ‘frequent’ in at least parts of its range (Stotz et al. 1996). Global population trends have not been quantified, but the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e., declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations). For these reasons, the species is evaluated as Least Concern.

Sedentary throughout range