Nicaraguan Seed-Finch

How to find it

Look in open wet grassland and marsh areas in the northern Caribbean lowlands, such as the Medio Queso area. Scan marsh edges for singing males on high perches. Drive open roadsides on the way to La Selva slowly, where it shares the scene with American Kestrel, Ruddy-breasted Seedeater and Red-breasted Meadowlark. Guides also make opportunistic stops in open country between Sarapiqui and the north, and check fields near La Selva. The grasslands on the drive toward Sarapiqui are also searched for Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture.

How to recognise it

Start with size and bill. Look for a large finch overall, and remember that seed-finches have a very massive bill.

The male is solid black with a pale pink bill, which explains the alternative English name Pink-billed Seed-Finch.

The female is dark chestnut brown with a dark gray bill.

A tour company notes that the bill is proportionally bigger than a macaw's, which tells you how chunky it looks. A pale pink bill on an all-black bird stands out well on an open perch, so the male is the easier one to spot.

Behaviour and diet

In the breeding season it is usually seen in pairs. Outside the breeding season it joins mixed flocks of finches, so a flock at a field edge deserves a careful look.

The nest is a loose cup built low in sedges, grasses or shrubs.

In Costa Rica a male was found singing persistently from the top of a 15 m tree overlooking a grassy marsh near Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, so a singing male on a high perch is a good clue.

Where it lives

It lives in short to tall grassland at or near shallow wetlands, with taller vegetation beside them. Typical spots are swamps, floodable pastures, and tall grass along lagoons or slow streams. Across its range it occurs up to about 500 m.

In Costa Rica it lives on the Caribbean slope. A long-ago survey found it at eight sites there, including Lago de Arenal and Las Camelias, which showed it is spread fairly continuously across the slope.

Similar birds

The song is like that of the Thick-billed Seed-Finch, which also lives in Costa Rica, so listen carefully to tell them apart. The two also have very similar eggs. They overlap in diet and in the size of seeds taken.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

Costa Rica uses the name Semillero Piquirrosado. Nicaragua and Panama call it Semillero Nicaragüense. The English name Pink-billed Seed-Finch is sometimes used, since the bird is no longer limited to Nicaragua.

Status and conservation

The official Costa Rican list marks it as a resident and regional endemic (R-END), and it is uncommon and local on the Caribbean slope.

Photography tips

Scan marsh edges for singing males on high perches, where the pale pink bill on a black bird shows well. Slow drives along open roadsides near La Selva give chances to stop and look.