White-winged Brushfinch

The white-winged brushfinch is about 15.5 cm (6.1 in) long and weighs about 19 to 26 g (0.67 to 0.92 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies A. l. leucopterus have a russet stripe from the forecrown to the nape; it is darkest on the forecrown. Their face is mostly blackish with a buff-white spot above the lores and a wide white lower cheek with a thin black line below it. Their upperparts and tail are dark gray. Their wings are dark gray with white bases on the primaries and white on the marginal coverts. Their throat, breast, and belly are mostly whitish with some speckles at the edge of the throat and a buffy and grayish wash on the sides of the breast and the flanks. Juveniles have a buffy head stripe, olive upperparts, and dark streaks on the breast and flanks. Subspecies A. l. dresseri is similar to the nominate but with a black forehead and a variable amount of white on the face. Both subspecies have a dark brownish red iris, a blackish bill, and blackish brown legs and feet. Subspecies A. l. paynteri has a black forecrown and a creamy buff to white hindcrown and nape. Its face, upperparts, wings, and tail are like the nominate's. Its underparts are mostly pale grayish with a white lower belly and undertail coverts. It also has a significantly longer tail than the nominate. …

The white-winged brushfinch has a disjunct distribution. The nominate subspecies is found in the central valleys and on the western slope of the Andes of Ecuador between Imbabura and northern Azuay provinces. Subspecies A. l. dresseri is found in southwestern Ecuador's El Oro and Loja provinces and south into northern Peru's Tumbes and Piura departments. One or both of these subspecies might also occur in the gap between their two known ranges. A. l. paynteri is found on the eastern slope of the Andes from southern Zamora-Chinchipe Province in southeastern Ecuador into northern Peru to southern Cajamarca Department. In much of Ecuador the white-winged brushfinch inhabits dry to arid woodlands and shrublands on interior hillsides and also plantations and gardens. A small proportion inhabits moister woodlands on the western Andean slope. In far southern Ecuador and in northwestern Peru it primarily inhabits the interior and edges of dry forest. In Ecuador it ranges in elevation mostly between 1,000 and 2,600 m (3,300 and 8,500 ft) and in northwestern Peru occurs between 400 and 2,000 m (1,300 and 6,600 ft). Subspecies A. l. paynteri inhabits the edges of humid montane forest at elevations between 1,700 and 2,200 m (5,600 and 7,200 ft).

The white-winged brushfinch's diet has not been studied but appears to be insects, seeds, berries, and other fruits. It forages on the ground, where it scratches in leaf litter, or slightly above it in vegetation. It typically forages in pairs or small family groups but sometimes after the breeding season gathers in flocks of up to about 30 individuals which may include other brushfinch species.