The grey seedeater is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland and heavily degraded former forest.
Region
Northern South America and Trinidad
Typical Environment
Occurs in northern South America from Colombia and Venezuela east to the Guianas and northern Brazil, and on Trinidad and Tobago; it also extends locally into eastern Ecuador. It favors seasonally wet or flooded lowland grasslands, savannas, and edges of gallery forest. The species is common in human-modified settings such as rice fields, weedy pastures, roadsides, and fallows. It often occupies areas of heavily degraded former forest where grasses dominate. During dry seasons it concentrates near watercourses and damp meadows where seed resources persist.
Altitude Range
0–1200 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 2/5
The grey seedeater is a small Neotropical tanager that specializes on grass seeds and often follows seasonal seeding events in open habitats. Males are mostly gray with a stout, conical bill adapted to cracking hard seeds, while females are warm brown and more cryptic. It readily uses human-altered areas like pastures and rice fields, which helps explain its broad distribution and overall stable status.
Temperament
social and active
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats with bounding undulations
Social Behavior
Outside the breeding season it forages in small flocks, sometimes mixed with other seedeaters. During breeding, males defend small territories in grassy patches and display from exposed perches. The nest is a small cup placed low in grasses or shrubs, and both parents typically attend the young.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Song is a series of bright, whistled phrases and trills with buzzy elements, delivered from a perch. Calls are sharp chips and twinks used to keep contact within small groups.
Plumage
Males are mostly smooth gray with a slightly darker head and face, clean whitish underparts toward the belly, and plain wings lacking strong wing bars. Females are warm brown to buff with paler underparts and a faintly streaked or plain appearance. Both sexes have a thick, seed-cracking bill and relatively plain, unmarked plumage overall.
Diet
Primarily consumes small to medium grass seeds, including those of Panicum and other weedy grasses. It also takes sedge seeds and occasionally small arthropods, especially during the breeding season to provide protein. Birds often husk seeds deftly with their powerful conical bills and will glean from seed heads directly.
Preferred Environment
Feeds in open grassy areas, flooded savannas, rice fields, and weedy field margins. Often forages along roadsides, fallows, and edges of wetlands where seeding grasses are abundant.
