Blue-grey Saltator (Saltator coerulescens) [XC332247]
by Aves del NEA from Agronomia UFGO - Rio Meia Ponte\/C\u00f3rrego Samambaia., Brazil (alarm call)
Blue-grey Saltator (Saltator coerulescens) [XC605299]
by Leonardo Ord\u00f3\u00f1ez-Delgado from Villavicencio, Villavicencio, Meta, Colombia (song)
Subspecies
Affiliations of genus uncertain. Recent molecular-genetic analyses indicate that it does not belong with present family, and may be better placed with tanagers (Thraupidae). Taxonomy somewhat confused: Middle American subspecies ("grandis group": vigorsii, plumbiceps, grandis, yucatanensis, hesperis, brevicaudus) possibly represent a separate species, and populations divided by Andes in northern South America may perhaps be further differentiated. Further study warranted. Subspecies yucatanensis intergrades with grandis in Belize.
Proposed subspecies richardsoni (described from Colima, in western Mexico) is a junior synonym of plumbiceps.
The following 13 subspecies are recognised:
vigorsii Gray, GR, 1844 - Western Mexico (southern Sonora, Sinaloa, western Durango, Nayarit and northern coastal Jalisco).
plumbiceps Baird, SF, 1867 - Western Mexico from central coastal Jalisco south to western Oaxaca.
grandis (Deppe, 1830) - Eastern Mexico (from southern Tamaulipas and eastern San Luis Potosí) southern on Caribbean slope (except Yucatán) to northern Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and western Panama. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Northern Grey Saltator (Saltator grandis).
yucatanensis von Berlepsch, 1912 - Yucatán Peninsula (except extreme southern Quintana Roo) and southern Mexico (eastern Tabasco and north-eastern Chiapas).
hesperis Griscom, 1930 - Pacific slope from southern Mexico (eastern Oaxaca and Chiapas) and central and southern Guatemala south to western Nicaragua.
brevicaudus van Rossem, 1931 - Vicinity of Golfo de Nicoya, in Costa Rica.
plumbeus Bonaparte, 1853 - Caribbean coast of Colombia from R Sinú east to lower Magdalena Valley. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Caribbean Grey Saltator (Saltator olivascens).
brewsteri Bangs and Penard, TE, 1918 - North-eastern Colombia (Norte de Santander and Arauca), Venezuela (except extreme south-east) and Trinidad. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Caribbean Grey Saltator (Saltator olivascens).
olivascens Cabanis, 1849 - South-eastern Venezuela (Mt Roraima, in south-eastern Bolívar), the Guianas and adjacent extreme northern Brazil. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Caribbean Grey Saltator (Saltator olivascens).
azarae d'Orbigny, 1839 - Western Amazon Basin from eastern Colombia and western Brazil (eastern probably to R Negro region and, south of Amazon, to R Madeira) south to eastern Ecuador, eastern Peru and north-eastern Bolivia (Bení).
mutus Sclater, PL, 1856 - Northern Brazil from lower R Solimíµes eastern on both banks of R Amazon to Amapá and Mexiana I, south to northern Maranhío.
superciliaris (von Spix, 1825) - North-eastern Brazil (southern Piauí and northern and western Bahia to northern Minas Gerais).
coerulescens Vieillot, 1817 - Eastern Bolivia (Santa Cruz and Tarija), south-western Brazil (Mato Grosso), northern Argentina (except Misiones; south to La Rioja, Córdoba, Santa Fe and northern Buenos Aires), Paraguay and western Uruguay.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet