Duida Grass-Finch

Effectively unknown / possibly the hardest-to-see bird on this list. A single-tepui endemic known only from specimens collected on Cerro Duida in 1928-1929 and essentially not documented in life by ornithologists since. There are no reliable modern eBird records. Realistically NOT a tour target — include it as a curiosity / 'mythical' species in curriculum, not a deliverable sighting.

Slender, very long graduated tail (grass-finch jizz). Buffy-olive to streaked brownish upperparts, paler underparts, finch-like conical bill. Best understood as a Pantepui-isolated relative of Wedge-tailed Grass-Finch (E. herbicola); separated chiefly by range (Cerro Duida) and subtler plumage tones rather than any single bold mark. Field ID is academic given near-zero modern observations.

Open grassy savanna / meadows on the summit plateau of Cerro Duida (a remote, largely inaccessible tepui in Amazonas). Type material from the grassy mountaintop.

Presumed like other Emberizoides grass-finches: skulking in tall grass, perching atop grass stems, weak fluttering flights between clumps with the long tail trailing. No detailed life-history data exist.

Vocalizations undescribed/undocumented for this taxon. By analogy with Wedge-tailed Grass-Finch, expect thin, buzzy, insect-like notes and short stuttering phrases. There are no Xeno-canto or Macaulay Library recordings of E. duidae; trainees should search 'Duida Grass-Finch' (will return zero/near-zero) and study 'Wedge-tailed Grass-Finch Emberizoides herbicola' as a vocal proxy.