Blue-capped Tanager (Sporathraupis) [XC236207]
by Niels Krabbe from Magdalena: San Lorenzo ridge, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia (call, song)
Blue-capped Tanager (Sporathraupis) [XC251622]
by John V. Moore from Pichincha: Tandayapa ridge 3 km SSW Tandayapa, Ecuador (song)
Subspecies
Recent molecular-genetic data do not support monophyly of genus as currently constituted: six of eight species sampled embedded with Tangara, a finding that makes genus Tangara paraphyletic. Present species appears to be most closely related to Anisognathus, not Tangara. This species exhibits considerable geographical variation, especially in north of range. Subspecies olivicyanea has in the past been regarded as a separate species, but intergrades with others.
The following 8 subspecies are recognised:
margaritae (Chapman, 1912) - Santa Marta Mts, in northern Colombia.
auricrissa (Sclater, PL, 1856) - Andes of western Venezuela (Trujillo south to Táchira) and adjacent Colombia (Norte de Santander south to Cundinamarca), also Perijá Mts on Colombia-Venezuela border.
hypophaea (Todd, 1917) - Andes of north-western Venezuela (in Lara).
olivicyanea (Lafresnaye, 1843) - Coastal cordillera of northern Venezuela (Aragua east to Miranda).
subcinerea (Sclater, PL, 1861) - Sucre (except Paria Peninsula) and northern Monagas, in north-eastern Venezuela.