Black-and-rufous Warbling Finch (Poospiza nigrorufa) [XC580347]
by Franco Vushurovich from Santa Terezinha de Itaipu, Santa Terezinha de Itaipu, Paran\u00e1, Brazil (call)
Black-and-rufous Warbling Finch (Poospiza nigrorufa) [XC824497]
by Sabrina Andrea Rendon Anaya from Acegu\u00e1, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil (call)
New molecular data indicate that genus forms a clade with the tanager (Thraupidae) genera Hemispingus and Thlypopsis, and that Compsospiza, which often subsumed within present genus, is sister to that clade. Closest relatives of present species uncertain. Further study is required. Subspecies whitii and wagneri sometimes treated together as a separate species, differing from nominate in song, habitat, and both juvenile and adult plumages. This treatment seems reasonable, but further details of these differences, in particular vocal differences, are needed. Subspecies wagneri poorly differentiated from whitii, and perhaps better synonymized.
The following 3 subspecies are recognised:
wagneri (D'Orbigny & Lafresnaye, 1837) - La Paz (around Mt Chulumaní), in western Bolivia.
whitii P. L. Sclater, 1883 - Andes of Bolivia (north to La Paz) and north-western Argentina (south to San Luis and western Córdoba). Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Black-and-chestnut Warbling-Finch (Poospiza whitii).
nigrorufa (d'Orbigny and Lafresnaye, 1837) - South-eastern Brazil (Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul), Uruguay and north-eastern Argentina (eastern Formosa, Corrientes and Misiones south to eastern Córdoba, eastern La Pampa, eastern Rio Negro and Buenos Aires). Non-breeding also south-eastern Paraguay (í‘eembucú, central Paraguay and Alto Paraná regions).
BirdLife International Species Factsheet