Birdfinding.info ⇒ Can be found at most of the Jamaican sites frequented by birdwatchers, but is most often seen in open woodland or along grassy roadsides in forest, as at Stewart Town, Marshall’s Pen, Hardwar Gap, San San, and Ecclesdown Road.
Yellow-shouldered Grassquit
Loxipasser anoxanthus
Endemic to Jamaica, where it is fairly common throughout the island in all types of wooded areas and edge habitats, including scrub and gardens.
Identification
Male is striking and unmistakable, with bright olive-yellow wings and back, black head, neck, and underparts, and chestnut vent.
Yellow-shouldered Grassquit, male. (Hardwar Gap, Jamaica; January 26, 2018.) © Dubi Shapiro
Yellow-shouldered Grassquit, male. (Stony Hill, Jamaica; July 28, 2015.) © Rafy Rodriguez
Yellow-shouldered Grassquit, male. (Hardwar Gap, Jamaica; November 19, 2019.) © Ron Furnish
Yellow-shouldered Grassquit, male. (Hardwar Gap, Jamaica; March 16, 2020.) © Brad Bergstrom
Yellow-shouldered Grassquit, male. (Font Hill Nature Preserve, Jamaica; January 16, 2013.) © Garrett MacDonald
Yellow-shouldered Grassquit, male. (Hardwar Gap, Jamaica; March 27, 2017.) © Sam Woods
Yellow-shouldered Grassquit, male. (San San, Jamaica; January 29, 2019.) © Matthew Grube
Yellow-shouldered Grassquit, male. (Marshall’s Pen, Jamaica; July 8, 2008.) © Steve Metz
Yellow-shouldered Grassquit, male with unusually rosy coloration. (Ecclesdown Road, Jamaica; March 11, 2017.) © Michael McCloy
Yellow-shouldered Grassquit, male. (Hardwar Gap, Jamaica; November 19, 2019.) © Marie Furnish
Females and immature plumages are similar to the adult male but muted gray and olive, usually with a brighter yellow shoulder patch at the bend of the wing. On females, the olive extends over the nape and crown.
Females and immatures could be mistaken for other grassquits, especially Black-faced (see below). Their yellow shoulders are diagnostic, but in these plumages the bright patch is small and not always visible when the wing is folded.
Yellow-shouldered Grassquit, female. (Green Castle Estate, Robin’s Bay, Jamaica; November 12, 2020.) © graichen & recer
Yellow-shouldered Grassquit, female. (Stewart Town, Jamaica; January 27, 2019.) © Matthew Grube
Yellow-shouldered Grassquit, apparently an immature male, based on blackish head and chest. (Cranbrook Flower Forest, Jamaica; April 5, 2012.) © Karl Overman
Yellow-shouldered Grassquit, female. (Portland Ridge, Jamaica; July 27, 2015.) © Jeff Gerbracht
Yellow-shouldered Grassquit, female. (Green Castle Estate, Robin’s Bay, Jamaica; November 12, 2020.) © graichen & recer
Yellow-shouldered Grassquit, female. (Burnt Hill, Jamaica; December 31, 2017.) © Catherine McFadden
Yellow-shouldered Grassquit, female. (Burnt Hill, Jamaica; December 31, 2017.) © Paul Clarke
Cf. Black-faced Grassquit. Female and immature Yellow-shouldered Grassquits are easily mistaken for male Black-faced Grassquit. The two species occur together frequently, so direct comparison is often possible. Across all plumages, Yellow-shouldered is brighter olive above, especially on the shoulders.
Notes
Monotypic species.
References
BirdLife International. 2016. Loxipasser anoxanthus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T22723622A94826195. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22723622A94826195.en. (Accessed March 19, 2021.)
eBird. 2021. eBird: An online database of bird distribution and abundance. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, N.Y. http://www.ebird.org. (Accessed March 19, 2021.)
Haynes-Sutton, A., A. Downer, R. Sutton, and Y.-J. Rey-Millet. 2009. A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Jamaica. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.
Kirwan, G.M., A. Levesque, M. Oberle, and C.J. Sharpe. 2019. Birds of the West Indies. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
Raffaele, H., J. Wiley, O. Garrido, A. Keith, and J. Raffaele. 1998. A Guide to the Birds of the West Indies. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.
Xeno-Canto. 2021. Yellow-shouldered Grassquit – Loxipasser anoxanthus. https://www.xeno-canto.org/species/Loxipasser-anoxanthus. (Accessed March 19, 2021.)