Mourning sierra finch explained

The mourning sierra finch (Rhopospina fruticeti) is a species of South American bird in the tanager family Thraupidae. It is the only member of the genus Rhopospina.

It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru. It is a vagrant to the Falkland Islands and Brazil. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.

Taxonomy

The mourning sierra finch was formally described and illustrated in 1883 by the German naturalist Heinrich von Kittlitz under the binomial name Fringilla fruticeti.^[1] This species was formerly included in the genus Phrygilus.^[2] A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2014 found that Phrygilus was polyphyletic,^[3] and in the subsequent rearrangement, the mourning sierra finch was moved to the resurrected genus Rhopospina that had been introduced in 1851 by Jean Cabanis.^{[4] [5]} The genus name combines the Ancient Greek rhōps meaning "bush" with spina meaning "finch". The specific epithet is from the Latin fruticetum meaning "thicket".^[6]

Three subspecies are recognised:^[5]

• R. f. peruviana (Zimmer, JT, 1924) – Peru and west Bolivia
• R. f. coracina (Sclater, PL, 1891) – southwest Bolivia and northeast Chile
• R. f. fruticeti (Kittlitz, 1833) – north to south Chile and west Argentina

External links

• Xeno-canto: audio recordings of the mourning sierra finch

Notes and References

1. Book: Kittlitz, Heinrich von . Heinrich von Kittlitz . 1833 . Kupfertafeln zur Naturgeschichte der Vögel . German . Frankfurt am Main . Johann David Sauerländer . 18-19, Plate 23 fig. 1 .
2. Book: Paynter . Raymond A. Jr . 1970 . Check-List of Birds of the World . 13 . Museum of Comparative Zoology . Cambridge, Massachusetts . 105 .
3. Burns . K.J. . Shultz . A.J. . Title . P.O. . Mason . N.A. . Barker . F.K. . Klicka . J. . Lanyon . S.M. . Lovette . I.J. . 2014 . Phylogenetics and diversification of tanagers (Passeriformes: Thraupidae), the largest radiation of Neotropical songbirds . Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 75. 41–77 . 10.1016/j.ympev.2014.02.006 . 24583021 . 2014MolPE..75...41B .
4. Book: Cabanis, Jean . Jean Cabanis . 1850–1851 . Museum Heineanum : Verzeichniss der ornithologischen Sammlung des Oberamtmann Ferdinand Heine, auf Gut St. Burchard vor Halberstadt . 1 . German, Latin . Halberstadt . R. Frantz . 135 .
5. Web site: Gill . Frank . Frank Gill (ornithologist) . Donsker . David . Rasmussen . Pamela . Pamela Rasmussen . July 2020 . Tanagers and allies . IOC World Bird List Version 10.2 . International Ornithologists' Union . 24 November 2020 .
6. Book: Jobling, James A. . 2010. The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Christopher Helm . London . 978-1-4081-2501-4 . 165, 335 .