Rufous-capped Brushfinch, Atlapetes pileates

Rufous-capped Brushfinch, Atlapetes pileatus pileatus. Photograph taken within the Reserva Chara Pinta, El Palmito, Sinaloa, April 2019. Photograph and identification courtesy of David F Smith, Alamos, Sonora.

The Rufous-capped Brushfinch, Atlapetes pileatus pileatus, is one of two subspecies of Rufous-capped Brushfinch, both of which are found in Mexico. They are a member of the Passerellidae Family of New World Sparrows, which has one hundred thirty-two members placed in thirty genera, and one of thirty global species of the Atlapetes Genus. They are known in Mexico as Atlapetes Gorra Rufa.

The Rufous-capped Brushfinch is very small in stature. The sexes have a similar appearance. Their crown is rufous, the sides of the face are dark charcoal, the nape and balance of the head are gray, their throat is broadly yellow and their breast as an olive tinge on the side, the upperparts are dull olive-green, and their underparts are yellowish. They have a black bill, brown to dark red-brown iris, pinkish to brownish legs.

The Rufous-capped Brushfinch is endemic to Mexico and found in the undergrowth of humid and semi-arid pine-oak forest areas within both the Atlantic and Pacific Slopes at elevations between 900 m (2,950 feet) and 3,500 m (11,500 feet). They are non-migratory. They are found in pairs or in small groups that are ground foragers that consume a variety of insects and seeds. They nest in bushy or dense grass areas. The Rufous-capped Brushfinch has been poorly studied and very limited information about their behavioral patterns and biology has been documented.

The Rufous-capped Brushfinch is a year-round resident of Mexico being found within the Mexican Plateau and mountains from Sinaloa to Tamaulipas south to Oaxaca. The pileatus subspecies is found within the Mexican Plateau and southern mountains from Sinaloa south to Oaxaca.

From a conservation perspective the Rufous-capped Brushfinch is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations.