The Black-spectacled Brush-Finch is a Peruvian endemic, and it also is best considered a member of a superspecies with two other Peruvian specialties, the Apurimac and Rufous-eared brush-finches. The three have similar plumage patterns, and are in separate isolated populations within Peru. The Black-spectacled Brush-Finch is well named as it has a large black face patch. In fact the head is ornate it its pattern, with a russet crown, nape and sides of face surrounding the black patch, as well as a this supraloral streak, black forehead, and bold white malar and black lateral throat stripes! It makes for a striking visage. Otherwise above and largely below this is a grey finch, with white throat and belly. It lives in montane scrub and forest edge, and is found in seasonally humid regions, but is absent from East slope areas. It also likes dry bushy areas (but in a zone with fairly high seasonal rainfall) and adjacent forest edge on humid slopes between the elevations of 2500 - 3600m.

Recommended Citation

. 2010. Black-spectacled Brush-Finch (Atlapetes melanopsis), Neotropical Birds Online (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; retrieved from Neotropical Birds Online: http://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/portal/species/overview?p_p_spp=643916