Antioquia Brushfinch

Only three museum specimens were used to create the original description of the Antioquia Brushfinch, which was published in 2007. The last time a live bird was discovered in the field was in 2018, when a curious agronomist on his way to weekly mass in the outskirts of Medelln, Colombia, observed an uncommon Brushfinch. The Blue-eyed Ground-Dove, Bahama Nuthatch, and Stresemann's Bristlefront are just a few of the rarest birds in the Western Hemisphere that this recently rediscovered relative of Ecuador's Pale-headed Brushfinch joins.

The lack of habitat is the primary cause of this species' paucity. Only little slivers of natural scrub may be seen in the sparsely populated region outside of Medelln, which is known as the "Altiplano Norte de Antioquia." Since 2018, more than 300 acres of land where the Antioquia Brushfinch was noted have been turned into cow pasture or potato fields, including the location where it was rediscovered. The surviving habitat is gravely in danger of being changed.

Less than 100 birds have been spotted so far, despite the fact that the species has been discovered in 25 different places. They are frequently seen in pairs, although they are also occasionally seen in small family groupings.