Yellow-faced Grassquit

The yellow-faced grassquit (Tiaris olivaceus) is a passerine bird in the tanager family Thraupidae and is the only member of the genus Tiaris. It is native to the Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. It is a small bird with a conical bill, sharper than that of the related seedeaters. It is 10–10.7 cm long. The adult male has an olive-green back, and its face and breast are black apart from a bright yellow throat, supercilia, and lower eyelid spot. The rest of the underparts are greyish olive. The beak and eyes are dark, while the legs are grey. The adult female is slightly smaller on average than the male. It is dull olive-green above and paler grey below, and may have some dark breast smudges. The yellow face pattern is much weaker and duller, and may be almost invisible. The lower part of the beak is dark horn-colored (light grey). Young birds are coloured essentially like the adult female, but duller and greyer. Young males begin to acquire full adult plumage in their first year. The yellow-faced grassquit has a weak buzzing trilled ttttt-tee call. The song is a varying series of high thin rapid trills. Given for a prolonged time, it is melodious, yet subdued, and often only heard from a short distance away.