Black-headed saltator

Appearance

This bird is on average 24 cm long and weighs 85 g. The adult has a slate-grey head with a whitish supercilium. The upperparts are yellowish green, the underparts are pale grey, and the throat is white edged with black. The thick convex bill is black and the legs are brown. Young birds are duller, and have mottling on the breast and brown markings on the underparts. This species is similar to the buff-throated saltator, but is larger and has a darker head and paler underparts.

Naming

The genus "Saltator" is apparently polyphyletic. Whether the present species will remain in "Saltator" or eventually be moved to another genus remains to be seen. Somewhat similar in coloration to the buff-throated saltator, the genus' type species, it resembles the probably well distant black-throated saltator or even the golden-billed saltator in other aspects.

Behavior

The common call is a raucous "deeeer". The song is a loud scratchy "cher cher jur jur weeee", often given by males as a duet.

Reproduction

The two black-marked pale blue eggs per clutch measure some 24–34 mm long by about 18–23.5 mm wide and weigh about 4.9–5.5 g each. They are laid in a bulky grass-lined cup nest up to 3 m high in a thicket between April and July.

Food

The black-headed saltator is a species of dense vegetation. The black-headed saltator feeds on fruit, buds, nectar and slow-moving insects. It forages at low and mid levels, sometimes with mixed species flocks.