Description and Systematics
On average, the Greyish Saltator is 20 cm long and weighs 52 g. The plumage depends on age and subspecies, but in general this bird has grey or greyish-olive upperparts, a white stripe over the eye, a narrow white throat, a grey breast and a buff or cinnamon belly.
The common call is a long-drawn upward slur, ch'wheeet or ch'kweeee, sometimes with a more elaborate beginning, as hi'whee chu weeeeh. The song is a warble, usually fairly short, varying from nasal to mellow.
The genus Saltator is apparently polyphyletic. Whether the present species will remain in Saltator or eventually be moved to another genus remains to be seen; it appears to be rather close to the type species, the Buff-throated Saltator, and thus seems more likely than not to retain its genus name.
There are 13 subspecies, several of which are considered full species by some authors, mainly on the basis of vocalisations.
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