The grey pileated finch (Coryphospingus pileatus), also known as the pileated finch,Clements, J. F., P. C. Rasmussen, T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, A. Spencer, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, M. Smith, and C. L. Wood. 2025. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2025. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ retrieved 3 November 2025 is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae, the tanagers and allies. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, and possibly Bolivia and French Guiana.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, D. F. Lane, L, N. Naka, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 25 July 2026. Species Lists of Birds for South American Countries and Territories. South American Classification Committee associated with the International Ornithologists' Union. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCCountryLists.htm retrieved 25 July 2026

Taxonomy and systematics

The grey pileated finch was first described in 1821 by the German naturalist Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied with the binomial Fringilla pileata. Though the book is dated 1820, the species description is attributed to 1821. In 1851 Jean Cabanis erected the genus Coryphospingus for pileatus and what is now the red pileated finch (C. cucullatus). The old and new genera were in the finch family Fringillidae but several early twentieth century studies showed that Coryphospingus belonged in its present tanager family. The two pileated "finches" form a superspecies and hybridize where their ranges overlap. The genera Coryphospingus, Lanio, Eucometis, and Tachyphonus are closely related.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, D. F. Lane, L, N. Naka, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 25 July 2026. A classification of the bird species of South America. South American Classification Committee associated with the International Ornithologists' Union. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved 25 July 2026

The grey pileated finch has these three subspecies:

C. p. rostratus Miller, AH, 1947 C. p. brevicaudus Cory, 1916 C. p. pileatus (Wied-Neuwied, M, 1821)

Description

The grey pileated finch is about long and weighs . It has a shortish tail and a longish bill. The species is sexually dimorphic. Adult males of the nominate subspecies C. p. pileatus have a black crest with a red central stripe; the crest is usually held flat. Their face is gray with white crescents above and below the eye. Their nape and upperparts are grayish and their wings and tail blackish gray. Their throat is white and their underparts mostly whitish with a dull grayish wash on the sides and flanks. Adult females have a brownish crown with no red. Their face is grayish brown with the same eye crescents as males. Their upperparts, wings, and tail are grayish brown and their underparts mostly off-white with buff-gray flanks. Juveniles are similar to adult females but are slightly more olive and have some streaking on the underparts. Subspecies C. p. rostratus has the same plumage than the nominate but a visibly longer bill and a shorter tail. C. p. brevicaudus has paler lores than the nominate and a shorter tail. Both sexes of all subspecies have a dark iris, a blackish maxilla, a horn to grayish mandible, and dark gray legs.Jaramillo, A. (2020). Pileated Finch (Coryphospingus pileatus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.pilfin1.01 retrieved September 11, 2026

Distribution and habitat

The grey pileated finch has a highly disjunct distribution: Each subspecies is separate from the others. They are found thus:

C. p. rostratus: central Colombia in the upper valley of the Magdalena River C. p. brevicaudus: the isolated Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in northern Colombia and east into Venzuela, where it is found across northern Zulia, Falcón, and northern Lara states, east to Sucre state, and south into Apure and northern Bolívar states; also Margarita Island C. p. pileatus: central and eastern Brazil south of a line roughly from western Mato Grosso northeast to the Atlantic in Maranhão and north of a line roughly from Mato Grosso southeast to the Atlantic in southern Rio de Janeiro state

The South American Classification Committee also has unconfirmed records in Bolivia and French Guiana.

All three subspecies of the grey pileated finch primarily inhabit dry and somewhat open landscapes. These include scrublands, thorn scrub, and open woodlands; it also inhabits shrubby edges of moister woodlands including gallery forest and grassy edges along roads. In elevation it reaches in Colombia and in Brazil. In Venezuela it is found up to north of the Orinoco River and only to south of it.

Behavior Movement

The grey pileated finch is overall a year-round resident though some seasonal movements are suspected in Venezuela.

Feeding

The grey pileated finch's diet has not been studied. One source states that it feeds on seeds. It forages on the ground near or under shrubs and other low vegetation. In the non-breeding season it forms small flocks.

Breeding

The grey pileated finch's breeding season has not been fully defined. In Venezuela it breeds during the rainy season of April or May to October or November. In central Colombia it appears to span at least October to December. Nothing else is known about the species' breeding biology.

Vocalization

The grey pileated finch's song in Venezuela is not frequently heard, "a leisurely [series] of flat, almost vireolike phrases, tslip, tslip tsweet, tslip tslip tsweet". In Brazil it sings a "calm, 2-noted phrase, 1st part [extremely] high, fast gliding-up sweéf, 2nd part mid-high trru or tudu, together as sweéf-trru repeated 8-10 x". Its calls are "a sharp twiip! or slightly lower-pitched phfft".

Status

The IUCN has assessed the grey pileated finch as being of Least Concern. It has an extremely large range; its population size is not known but is believed to be stable. No immediate threats have been identified. It is considered "nowhere very numerous" in Venezuela, "locally common" in Colombia, and "common to frequent" in Brazil.

References