Tepui Brushfinch

The tepui brushfinch is 17 to 18 cm (6.7 to 7.1 in) long and weighs 29 to 37 g (1.0 to 1.3 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies A. p. personatus have a mostly cinnamon rufous head with a yellow throat. Their upperparts, wings, and tail are mostly gray with an olive wash; their wing coverts and flight feathers are slightly more blackish. Their breast and belly are yellow and their flanks, vent, and undertail coverts are dusky olive. Juveniles have a brownish gray head and slightly browner upperparts than adults. The other subspecies differ from the nominate and each other thus:

A. p. collaris: deeper chestnut head than nominate and chestnut flecks on the breast A. p. duidae: black back, wings, and tail and chestnut throat and breast A. p. parui: black back, wings, and tail and darker chestnut throat and breast than duidae A. p. paraquensis: blackish forecrown and chin, black back, wings, and tail, and chestnut throat A. p. jugularis: black back, olivaceous tinged uppertail coverts, palish rufous throat, and chestnut breast All subspecies have a chestnut iris, a dark brown to black bill, and blackish brown or dusky pink legs and feet.

The tepui brushfinch has an extremely disjunct distribution with each subspecies occurring on one or more separate tepuis. They are found thus:

A. p. personatus: Mount Roraima and nearby tepuis where Venezuela's Bolívar state and western Guyana meet including Mount Ayanganna in Guyana (but see below) A. p. collaris: Auyán-tepui in southeastern Bolívar A. p. duidae: southern Venezuela on Cerro Duida and upper Ocamo River in Amazonas and several tepuis in west-central Bolívar A. p. parui: Cerro Parú in Venezuela's north-central Amazonas A. p. paraquensis: southern Venezuela on several tepuis in northwestern and northeastern Amazonas A. p. jugularis: Cerro de la Neblina in Venezuela's southeastern Amazonas and adjacent Brazilian Amazonas state (but see below) Neither Birds of the World online nor Hilty's field guide include Brazil in the range of A. p. personatus. Both include Brazil in the range of A. p. jugularis. In contrast, a field guide to Brazilian birds states that A. p. personatus is the only subspecies confirmed in Brazil and that A. p. jugularis "may occur in extreme northern Amazonas". It also notes individual records along the Amazon River. The tepui brushfinch inhabits the edges and understory of dense humid montane forest. On Sierra de Lema in Bolívar it favors secondary forest on white-sand soil dominated by Melastomaceae. …

The tepui brushfinch's diet has not been extensively studied but it is known to include insects, seeds, and fruits. It usually forages in pairs or family groups and sometimes joins mixed-species feeding flocks. It forages mostly from the forest's understory to its mid-story and also sometimes on the ground. It cocks or flips its tail while foraging.