CAPACETINHO-DO-OCO-DO-PAU (AS KNOWN IN BRAZIL)

Microspingus cinereus

The Cinereous Warbling Finch is a small bird that is rarely seen. Also known as the capacetinho-cinza and andorinha-do-oco-de-pau, in Brazil. It measures around 5 inches in length, with a pale grayish coloration on its head, mantle, wings, and upper side of its tail, slightly darker on its throat and wings. Light gray flanks, primaries with outer surfaces in pale gray and inner surfaces in black. The breast, belly, undertail coverts, and inner tail are white, and the iris is reddish-brown.

It feeds on insects captured among shrubs but also consumes plant-based resources. As a representative of open areas, it's a little-studied species. It's considered globally vulnerable due to the loss of grassland habitat as well as the replacement of Brazilian cerrados with grasses and other invasive forms.

Its reproductive habits are poorly understood. It inhabits Brazilian cerrados and deciduous forests, with a local and scarce distribution. Found in the central region of Brazil, between 1969 and 3938 feet in altitude, in the states of Mato Grosso, Goiás, Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo, and São Paulo.