Citron-headed Yellow Finch (Sicalis luteocephala) — Vorstman's Guide to the Birds of the Andes and West Coast

Voice

The song is a short series of chipping and buzzy notes. The call is a short chip.

Listen: SongXC16148

Recording: Niels Krabbe — CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 · xeno-canto

Identification

13–14 cm, with a short, conical bill. The male has a citron-yellow head, throat and breast; the nape, mantle and back are plain grey, the flanks grey and the centre of the belly yellow to whitish. The wings and tail are dark with grey edges. The female is duller, with a less bright yellow head. Juveniles are greyer and show little yellow.

Confusion species

Bright-rumped Yellow Finch Sicalis uropygialis has grey cheeks and a bright yellow rump and lives higher, on the puna. Greenish Yellow Finch Sicalis olivascens is olive-green, without grey and without contrast between head and back. Puna Yellow Finch Sicalis lutea is almost entirely yellow and lives higher. Saffron Finch Sicalis flaveola has an orange forehead and a yellowish-olive back and lives in the lowlands.

Habitat

Dry, shrubby slopes with cacti, fields, hedgerows and the surroundings of villages in the dry inter-Andean valleys, mostly between about 2500 and 3700 m. It feeds on the ground on seeds, often in small groups. Little is known about the nest; it is probably placed in a cavity, as in related species.

Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of the Andes and the west coast.

Range and movements

Absent from Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and the Galápagos. In Bolivia in the dry Andean valleys, mainly in Cochabamba, Chuquisaca and Potosí, and locally in Tarija. Outside the guide area only in the far north-west of Argentina.

Resident
dark = core range, pale = thinly spread

Density map from the occurrence records of GBIF (2006-10-01 – 2026-09-30), counted per 1.41° grid cell and per month and divided by all bird records in that same cell — so the number of birdwatchers does not shape the picture. Colour depth follows that share and fades out gradually, so the map does not follow national borders. Country outlines: Natural Earth (public domain).

How and when to look

Search the dry valleys around Cochabamba and between Cochabamba and Sucre along fields, hedgerows and shrubby slopes.

Conservation status

Least Concern. The species has a fairly small range, but is locally common within it and also lives in farmland.

Scientific name

Sicalis luteocephala | (d'Orbigny, ACVMD & de Lafresnaye, 1837)

D'Orbigny, ACVMD & de Lafresnaye described the species in 1837 as Emberiza luteocephala; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Sicalis was introduced in 1828 by Boie. The genus name comes from Greek sikalis, a small black-headed bird, perhaps a warbler of the genus Sylvia. The species name comes from Latin luteus, 'geel', en Grieks kephalē, 'kop', for the yellow head. The specimen the first description was based on came from Totora, Cochabamba, Bolivia.