CURIÓ (AS KNOWN IN BRAZIL)

Sporophila angolensis

The Chestnut-Bellied Seed Finch is small and a singer, possessing one of the most admired chirpings in Brazil. It measures about 5,7 inches, with black on the upper part of its body and reddish-brown on the lower part, and the inner part of its wings is white. It's also known as bico-de-furo and avinhado, in Brazil. The beak is quite robust, used to open seeds, and it has a grayish spot at the base of its jaw.

It primarily feeds on insects and various seeds, especially the seed of sword grass. It lives alone or in pairs and it builds a cup-shaped nest with thin walls. It lays 2 white-greenish eggs with many brown spots, and hatching occurs about 13 days after laying.

Its natural habitats include subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and highly degraded secondary forests. It's common in shrubby clearings, grassy clearings, shrubs at the edges of tall forests, swamps, and it also ventures into forests. It's distributed throughout almost the entire Brazilian territory, from the Amazon region to Rio Grande do Sul, including states in the Central-West region.