Habitat
Morelet’s Seedeaters inhabit open grassy places, often near water, including pastures, roadsides, weedy fields, and even marshland covered with tall grasses. They typically occur in areas with dense ground cover 2–3 meters (6.5–10 feet) high with scattered clumps of reeds, bushes, or trees 3–10 meters (10–33 feet) high.
Back to topFood
Morelet’s Seedeaters eat mainly grass seeds, but they also consume insects, especially during the breeding season. These seedeaters usually perch on grass stems and then feed on the seedheads. They occasionally forage on the ground, but they don’t eat fallen seeds—even when on the ground, they pluck seeds from grasses.
Back to topNesting
Nest Placement
Nest is placed 0.6–3 meters (2–10 feet) above ground in a shrub or tree.
Nest Description
Nest is a thin, open cup composed of fibers, spiderwebs, fine rootlets, and pieces of grass.
Nesting Facts
| Clutch Size: | 2-4 eggs |
| Number of Broods: | 1-2 broods |
| Incubation Period: | 13 days |
| Nestling Period: | 9-11 days |
| Egg Description: | Pale blue-gray, with dark brown or black mottling or speckles. |
Behavior
Morelet’s Seedeaters seldom venture to the ground, instead perching in trees or shrubs, or on the tops of grass seedheads. Individuals frequently land on top of grass stems, which causes the stems to bend and allows the birds to eat seeds while in a vertical position, alert to any approaching dangers. Morelet’s Seedeaters are social birds, feeding in small flocks, often with other seedeating species, and joining large, mixed-species roosts.
Morelet’s Seedeaters are socially monogamous. The female builds the nest and incubates the eggs, which hatch after about 13 days. Both sexes feed the nestlings, which leave the nest after 10–11 days, and then attend to the fledglings, which become independent after several weeks.
Back to topConservation
Partners in Flight estimates Morelet’s Seedeater’s global population size at 14 million individuals and rates the species a 7 out of 20 on the Continental Concern Score, indicating a species of low conservation concern. This seedeater generally benefits from the conversion of forest to pasture, but it does not fare well in areas of intensive agriculture. Populations in southern Texas declined steeply in the second half of the 20th century, likely due to the development of agriculture in the Rio Grande Valley, the damming of the Rio Grande, and possibly due to increased use of agrochemicals. In Mexico, males are popular for their pleasant, cheerful songs, and wild individuals may be caught to satisfy the demand.
Back to topCredits
Chesser, R. T., K. J. Burns, C. Cicero, J. L. Dunn, A. W. Kratter, I. J. Lovette, P. C. Rasmussen, J. V. Remsen Jr., D. F. Stotz, B. M. Winger, and K. Winker (2018). Fifty-ninth supplement to the American Ornithological Society's Check-list of North American birds. Auk: Ornithological Advances 135:798–813.
Eitniear, J. C. (2020). Morelet's Seedeater (Sporophila morelleti), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (P. G. Rodewald, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.whcsee1.01
Howell, S. N. G., and S. Webb (1995). A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America. Oxford University Press, New York, NY, USA.
Partners in Flight (2023). Avian Conservation Assessment Database, version 2023.
Stiles, F. G., and A. F. Skutch (1989). A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, USA.