The Yungas sparrow (''Rhynchospiza dabbenei'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

in the family

Passerellidae New World sparrows are a group of mainly New World passerine birds, forming the family Passerellidae. They are seed-eating birds with conical bills, brown or gray in color, and many species have distinctive head patterns. Although they share t ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the

Yungas The Yungas (Aymara ''yunka'' warm or temperate Andes or earth, Quechua ''yunka'' warm area on the slopes of the Andes) is a bioregion of a narrow band of forest along the eastern slope of the Andes Mountains from Peru and Bolivia, and extends into ...

region of southeastern

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

and northwestern

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. It was formerly considered a

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

of what was then called the stripe-capped sparrow (''R. strigiceps'').

Taxonomy and systematics

The Yungas sparrow was previously classified as a subspecies of ''Rhynchospiza strigiceps'', which was at that time called the stripe-capped sparrow. Before that, ''Rhynchospiza'' had been subsumed into genus ''Aimophila''. A 2009 publication restored the genus ''Rhynchospiza'' and a 2019 publication split ''R. dabbenei'' from ''R. strigiceps''.DaCosta, J. M., G. M. Spellman, P. Escalante, and J. Klicka. 2009. A molecular systematic revision of two historically problematic songbird clades: ''Aimophila'' and ''Pipilo''. J. Avian Biology 40:206-216 Based on the 2019 publication, in June 2020 the South American Classification Committee (SACC) of the American Ornithological Society (AOS) accepted ''R. dabbenei'' as the Yungas sparrow and renamed ''R. strigiceps'' Chaco sparrow. The

International Ornithological Congress International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

(IOC) followed suit in January 2021.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 19 January 2021. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. http://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved January 19, 2021

Description

The Yungas sparrow is larger than its former "parent" ''R. strigiceps''. Its upper parts are brown with darker streaks and varying amounts of rust and gray. It is pale gray below blending to buff on the flanks and in the vent area. The head is gray with chestnut crown and postocular stripes, black lores, and a white moustachial stripe.Jaramillo, A. (2020). Stripe-capped Sparrow (''Rhynchospiza strigiceps''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.stcspa1.01 retrieved April 23, 2021

Distribution and habitat

The Yungas sparrow is a year-round resident of the

Southern Andean Yungas The Southern Andean Yungas is a tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion in the Yungas of southwestern Bolivia and northwestern Argentina. Geography The ecoregion occurs along the eastern slope of the Andes from southern Bolivia ...

, a narrow region on the eastern side of the Andes in southwestern Bolivia and northwestern Argentina. The area is characterized by a

subtropical highland climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...

and evergreen forest.

Vocalization

The Yungas sparrow's song is a series of chirps that contrast with the complex trills of the Chaco sparrow.

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has not evaluated the Yungas sparrow.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q76823769, from2=Q105070607 Rhynchospiza Birds described in 1912