Habitat
Grassland, with varying amounts of shrubby vegetation, with the presence or proximity of water apparently an important factor. From sea-level - 1,300 m.
Argentina (B), Bolivia (B), Brazil (B), Colombia (B), French Guiana (B), Guyana (B), Paraguay (B), Suriname (B), Uruguay (B), Venezuela (B).
Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).
Status NT
Habitat destruction and degradation due to conversion to agriculture is the main threat.
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.
Bearded Tachuri (Polystictus pectoralis) [XC81697]
by Jeremy Minns from Itirapina, SP, Brazil (song, song while displaying)
Bearded Tachuri (Polystictus) [XC74389]
by Alexandre Renaudier from Iracoubo, savane Trou Poissons, French Guiana (?)
Subspecies
Was for long treated in a separate genus, Habrura. Relationship with Grey-backed Tachuri (Polystictus superciliaris) needs confirmation. Subspecies bogotensis (possibly extinct) probably merits rank of full species.
The following 3 subspecies are recognised:
bogotensis (Chapman, 1915) - Very local in temperate zone in Cundinimarca (savannas of Bogotá) and Valle (upper Dagua Valley), in Colombia.
brevipennis (von Berlepsch & Hartert, 1902) - Eastern Colombia, southern Venezuela, Guyana, Surinam and northern Brazil (Roraima, Amapá, western Pará).
pectoralis (Vieillot, 1817) - Eastern Bolivia (Santa Cruz), southern Brazil (locally from Mato Grosso south to Rio Grande do Sul), Paraguay, northern Argentina (south to Mendoza, La Pampa and Buenos Aires) and Uruguay.