The paramo seedeater (Catamenia homochroa) is named after a high treeless plateau in tropical South America – a high mountain biome with a vegetation composed mainly of giant rosette plants, shrubs and grasses. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montanes, subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest. There are three species of Catamenia seedeaters, all in fact tanager-finches rather than Emberizid sparrows based on recent molecular data. Of the three the Paramo Seedeater is the least common and most difficult to see.
