Appearance
On average, the bluish-grey saltator is 20 cm long and weighs 52 g. The plumage depends on age and subspecies, but in general this bird has grey or greyish-olive upperparts, a white stripe over the eye, a narrow white throat, a grey breast and a buff or cinnamon belly.
Naming
Two of its former subspecies groups, "grandis" and "olivascens", are now recognized as separate species, the cinnamon-bellied saltator and the olive-grey saltator.
Distribution
This species occurs in a wide range of semi-open habitats, such as woodlands, scrub and edges of forest in tropical and subtropical South America, including northern Argentina, western Uruguay, Paraguay, widely in Brazil, Bolivia, eastern Peru, eastern Ecuador, and southeastern Colombia.
Behavior
The common call is a long-drawn upward slur, "ch'wheeet" or "ch'kweeee", sometimes with a more elaborate beginning, as "hi'whee chu weeeeh". The song is a warble, usually fairly short, varying from nasal to mellow.
Reproduction
The two pale blue subelliptic eggs per clutch measure some 23–31.5 mm long by about 17–22 mm wide and weigh about 5 grams each. They look unusual for this genus as they have a circle of blackish-brown hairstreaks and dots around the blunt end. They are laid in a bulky cup nest 2–4 m high in a tree.Food
The bluish-grey saltator feeds on fruits, buds and slow-moving arthropods. It forages at low and middle levels, sometimes in pairs or small groups and sometimes with mixed-species flocks that may include other saltators.References:
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