The orange-browed hemispingus (Kleinothraupis calophrys) is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae found in Bolivia and far eastern Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.

Taxonomy

The orange-browed hemispingus was formally described as Chlorospingus calophyrys by the English ornithologists Philip Sclater and Osbert Salvin in 1876 based on specimens from the Yungas of La Paz, Bolivia. The specific epithet is derived from the Greek words meaning "beautiful eyebrow". It has no recognised subspecies besides the nominate.

Description

The orange-browed hemispingus is, on average, 14–16cm (5.5–6.3in) long and weighs 14.5–20.5g (0.5–0.7oz). It has bright olive-green upperparts, flanks, lower underparts, and undertail-coverts. The throat and breast are ochre-orange, grading to a more yellowish color towards the remaining underparts. The head is a vibrant ochre-orange, with pure black stripes across the center of the skull and the eyes through to the back of the neck. There is a ochre-orange supercilium separating these two stripes, as well as a small ochre-orange dot on the ear-coverts.

Although the orange-browed hemispingus is confusable with the closely-related black-capped hemispingus, these two species do not co-occur anywhere in their ranges. Additionally, they differ in the color of their supercilia (white in the black-capped and orange in the orange-browed) and the extent of their ear-coverts, which are broader in the black-capped hemispingus.

Distribution and habitat

The orange-browed hemispingus is an Andean endemic, being found on the eastern versant of these mountains in Bolivia and Peru. Its range is Bolivia stretches from Cochabamba and La Paz departments north to the Peruvian border, where it spills into a small portion of the Puno Department. It inhabits moist montane and dwarf forests with large amounts of Chusquea bamboo, as well as secondary growth adjoining landslides, at elevations of 2,300–3,350m (7,550–10,990ft).

Conservation

The orange-browed hemispingus is classified as being of least concern by the IUCN. Although it is thought to have a declining population, it is still a rather common species.