Black-faced Grassquit

Black-faced Grassquit (Tiaris bicolor) male

Black-faced Grassquit

Order : Passeriformes
Also known as Passerine’s or perching bird’s. Any member of the largest avian order which includes more than 5,700 species, more than half of all living birds. Passerine’s are true perching birds with four toed feet, three toes facing forward and one larger toe facing backwards.

Family : Finches (Fringillidae)
Finches are seed eating Passerines mainly confined to the Northern Hemisphere, though some extend to South America. They are small to medium sized birds with a strong usually conical beak. Their flight is a bouncing alternate of flaps and glides on closed wings, and most sing well. There is some confusion over exactly which family the West Indian species belong, some Ornithologists placing them in the family Emberizidae.

Name :Black-faced Grassquit (Tiaris bicolor)
Length : 11 - 12 cm ( 4½ in )
Local Names : Grass Sparrow, Tobacco Bird

Abundant and widely distributed throughout the West Indies, the Black-faced Grassquit is a species of open countryside, grassland, scrub and garden. It’s diet consisting almost extensively of grass or herb seed taken almost exclusively from the ground. The Male is green above with distinguishing black underparts, the female is greenish brown above and lacks any black underparts. The nest is globular with a side entrance, and is usually placed in a bush or tree.

#Black-faced Grassquit #Tiaris bicolor #Grass Sparrow #Tobacco Bird #Finches #Fringillidae #Passeriformes #Passerine #perching #bird #birds of Tobago

Bird identification pictures

Black-faced Grassquit female

Black-faced Grassquit female

Barred Antshrike

Barred Antshrike (Thamnophilus doliatus)

Barred Antshrike

Order : Passeriformes
Also known as Passerine’s or perching bird’s. Any member of the largest avian order which includes more than 5,700 species, more than half of all living birds. Passerine’s are true perching birds with four toed feet, three toes facing forward and one larger toe facing backwards.

Family : Antbirds (Thamnophilidae)
Antbirds are a large family of subtropical and tropical central and south American Passerines, from the family Formicariidae, making up more than 230 species in 50 genera. All are fairly small birds 9.5 to 37 cm ( 4 to 14 inches), and tend to have drab, fluffy plumage being predominantly brown, black and white, with sexes usually being different. They are insectivorous, and generally share incubation duties.

Name : Barred Antshrike (Thamnophilus doliatus)
Length : 15 cm (6 in)

The Barred Antshrike is usually seen in pairs, the rufus coloured female not far behind the black and white male, calling in a distinctive chuckling ‘Ka - Ka - Ka’ that accelerates towards the end, it’s tail wags rapidly in time with the notes and it’s crest erects. The pair calling frequently to each other as they move around. The nest is hung under a thin branch like a two handled basket where both parents attend to nest duties, incubating and rearing the young. They inhabit light woodlands and bush, and can frequently be seen in suburban gardens and hotel grounds. The Antshrike’s diet consists mainly of insects found as it hunts through low bushes.

#barred antshrike #Thamnophilus doliatus #antbirds #Thamnophilidae #Passeriformes #Passerine #perching #bird #identification #birds #birds of Tobago

Bird identification pictures