Recently, two new subspecies have been described from the headwaters of the Maués River, Amazonas (cyanosparius), and the coast of Alagoas and Pernambuco (alagoensis), but the types and paratypes are of captive origin.
The following 4 subspecies are recognised:
superciliaris Temminck, 1815 - North-central and eastern Brazil, south of Amazon south to Maranhão.
jacupemba von Spix, 1825 - Eastern Bolivia (Santa Cruz) and central and southern Brazil.
major Bertoni, AW, 1901 - Extreme southern Brazil (Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul), eastern Paraguay and north-eastern Argentina (Misiones).
pseudonyma Neumann, 1933 - Central Amazonian Brazil.