Peruvian Meadowlark

Leistes bellicosus (de Filippi, 1847)

Peruvian Meadowlark, Leistes bellicosus, is a passerine of the Icteridae family that breeds in South America from far south-west Colombia to far north-west Chile. It lives in grasslands, pastures and farmland, and in dry coastal areas it also uses oases and irrigated fields. The nominate form occurs from south-western Colombia through western Ecuador and western Peru, while L. b. albipes ranges from Junín south to northern Chile. It was first described in 1847, and the species is now placed in Leistes.

Order

Passeriformes

Family

Icteridae — Oropendolas, New World Orioles, Blackbirds

Breeding range

South America: far sw Colombia to far nw Chile