Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela.
Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.
Population
Estimated population is 500,000 - 4,999,999 (2010).
Ruddy-breasted Seedeater (Sporophila minuta) [XC640936]
by Manuel Grosselet from Ammo Dump Ponds, Panama (call, flight call)
Ruddy-breasted Seedeater (Sporophila) [XC327349]
by Kent Livezey from Metap\u00e1n, Santa Ana, El Salvador (song)
Subspecies
Molecular evidence suggests that genus is closely related to Oryzoborus, which should perhaps be subsumed within it. Further, that both genera should be placed in the tanager family (Thraupidae). This species was at one time considered conspecific with Tawny-bellied Seedeater (Sporophila hypoxantha), but molecular data and vocal details suggest that the two are not very closely related. A molecular-genetic study of 17 species in genus, including ten in "capped" group ("capuchinos"), indicated that latter form two clades, a northern clade largely north of R Amazon containing present species and Chestnut-bellied Seedeater (Sporophila castaneiventris), and a southern clade consisting of Copper Seedeater (Sporophila bouvreuil), Tawny-bellied Seedeater (Sporophila hypoxantha), Rufous-rumped Seedeater (Sporophila hypochroma), Dark-throated Seedeater (Sporophila ruficollis), Marsh Seedeater (Sporophila palustris), Chestnut Seedeater (Sporophila cinnamomea) and Black-bellied Seedeater (Sporophila melanogaster).
The following 3 subspecies are recognised:
parva (Lawrence, 1883) - Arid Pacific lowlands from western Mexico (Nayarit) south to Nicaragua.
centralis Bangs & Penard, TE, 1918 - South-western Costa Rica and Pacific slope of Panama.
minuta (Linnaeus, 1758) - Northern Colombia south to north-western Ecuador, east to Venezuela, Trinidad, Tobago, the Guianas, and northern Brazil (north-western Amazonas, northern Roraima, and Amapá south to northern Pará).
BirdLife International Species Factsheet