''Poospiza'' is a
genus of finch-like birds in the tanager family
Thraupidae that are found in both the
South American lowlands and the
Andes mountains
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher th ...
. Generally they are
arboreal feeders in light
woodland and
scrub
Scrub(s) may refer to:
* Scrub, low shrub and grass characteristic of scrubland
* Scrubs (clothing), worn by medical staff
* ''Scrubs'' (TV series), an American television program
* Scrubs (occupation), also called "scrub tech," "scrub nurse," ...
. All have extensive grey to their
plumage
Plumage ( "feather") is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, ...
, and have—often bold—white or rufous markings.
Taxonomy and species list
The genus ''Poospiza'' was introduced in 1847 by the German ornithologist
Jean Cabanis. The name combines the
Ancient Greek ''poa'' meaning "grass" and ''spiza'' meaning "finch". The
type species was designated as the
black-and-rufous warbling finch by the English zoologist
George Robert Gray in 1855.
A
molecular phylogenetic
Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...
study of the Tanager family published in 2014 found that ''Poospiza'' and many other genera were
polyphyletic. In the subsequent reorganization two species from ''Compsospiza'' and two species from ''Hemispingus'' were moved here. At the same time several species formerly assigned to ''Poospiza'' were moved to ''
Microspingus
''Microspingus'' is a genus of warbler-like birds in the tanager family Thraupidae. They are found in highland forest in South America.
Taxonomy and species list
A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2014 found that the genus ''Poospiza ...
'', ''
Poospizopsis'' and ''
Castanozoster''.
The genus contains ten species:
[
]
References
Sources
* Ridgely, R. S., & G. Tudor. 1989. The Birds of South America, vol. 1. Univ. Texas Press, Austin.
Bird genera
{{Thraupidae-stub