Proposed subspecies poliocephalus (Pasco and Junín, in central Peru) merged with nominate, as it occupies an indistinct zone of intergradation between subspecifically recognizable plumage patterns of northern and southern Peru. Similarly, selvae (western Andes of Colombia) merged with columbianus, as these populations occupy a zone of diffuse intergradation between grey-crowned latter subspecies and green-crowned viridiceps.
The following 4 subspecies are recognised:
columbianus Chapman, 1919 - Andes of Colombia (except south-west) south to eastern Ecuador.
viridiceps Chapman, 1924 - Western Andean slopes from south-western Colombia south to south-western Ecuador.
palamblae Chapman, 1927 - Andes of northern Peru from Piura, Cajamarca and San Martín south to Huánuco.
striaticollis (D'Orbigny & Lafresnaye, 1837) - Southern Peru (southern from Cuzco and Madre de Dios) south to northern Bolivia (La Paz, Cochabamba, northern Santa Cruz).
BirdLife International Species Factsheet