Birds · La Saladita, Guerrero

Blue-black Grassquit

Volatinia jacarina

Spanish: Semillero brincador

The blue-black grassquit (Volatinia jacarina) is a small bird in the tanager family, Thraupidae. It was previously classified in the bunting and American sparrow family, Emberizidae. It breeds from southern Mexico through Central America, and South America as far as northern Chile, Argentina and Paraguay, and on Trinidad and Tobago. It is the only member of the genus Volatinia.

TaxonomyAves › Passeriformes › Thraupidae

Local records17 research-grade observations within about 50 km of La Saladita (the survey box also takes in Zihuatanejo, Ixtapa and Troncones)

Global records13,476 on iNaturalist

Most recent records2020 – 2025

Months of the 8 most recent records

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Recent local sightings

2025-07-30 — observation by dani1212
2025-07-30 — observation by dani1212
2025-07-24 — observation by mkmalik
2024-01-04 — observation by zihuadean
2023-07-01 — observation by zihuadean
2022-05-07 — observation by adriang100

Interactive card with more photos, sounds and similar species Birds guide iNaturalist Wikipedia

Cite as: “Blue-black Grassquit (Volatinia jacarina) at La Saladita”, La Saladita Field Guide, lasaladita.com/species/volatinia-jacarina/, updated 2026-09-26. Observation counts and months come from iNaturalist research-grade records within about 50 km of 17.8375°N, 101.7606°W (the survey box also takes in Zihuatanejo, Ixtapa and Troncones); summary text from Wikipedia where present.