Sporophila is a genus of Neotropical birds in the tanager family Thraupidae. The genus now includes the six seed finches that were previously placed in the genus Oryzoborus.
They are relatively small with stubby, conical bills adapted for feeding on seeds and alike. Most species are strongly sexually dimorphic, and while "typical" adult males often are distinctive, female and immatures of both sexes can be very difficult (in some species virtually impossible) to identify to exact species.Ridgely, R. S., & G. Tudor (1989). The Birds of South America. Vol. 1. Univ. Texas Press, Austin Females of at least some of these species have different ultraviolet colours, which can be seen by birds, but not humans.Benites, P., Eaton, M. D., Lijtmaer, D. A., Lougheed, S. C. & Tubaro, P. L. (2010). Analysis from avian visual perspective reveals plumage colour differences among females of capuchino seedeaters (Sporophila). J. Avian Biology. 41: 597–602. Female-like (paedomorphic) males apparently also occur, at least in some species.Areta, J. I. (2009). Paedomorphosis in Sporophila seedeaters. Bull. B.O.C. 2009 129(2): 98-103.
Taxonomy and species list The genus Spermophila was introduced by the English naturalist William Swainson in 1827. The type species was subsequently designated as Temminck's seedeater (Sporophila falcirostris) by George Robert Gray in 1841. As the genus name Spermophila had been introduced by John Richardson in 1825 for a genus of mammals, the German ornithologist Jean Cabanis coined the present name Sporophila as a replacement in 1844. The name combines the Ancient Greek meaning "seed" and meaning "-loving".
The genus now includes the six seed finches that were previously placed in Oryzoborus as well as the thick-billed seed finch that was the only species in Dolospingus. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2014 found that these seven species were embedded in Sporophila.
The genus contains 41 species: Image Common name Scientific name Distribution Lesson's seedeater Sporophila bouvronides Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela. Lined seedeater Sporophila lineola Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Cinnamon-rumped seedeater Sporophila torqueola western Mexico Morelet’s seedeater Sporophila morelleti Rio Grande Valley through eastern Mexico and Central America to western Panama Variable seedeater Sporophila corvina southern Mexico through Central America to the Chocó of northwestern South America Grey seedeater Sporophila intermedia Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela. Wing-barred seedeater Sporophila americana north-eastern Venezuela, Tobago, the Guianas, Brazil White-naped seedeater Sporophila fringilloides Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela. Black-and-white seedeater Sporophila luctuosa Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Double-collared seedeater Sporophila caerulescens Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay Yellow-bellied seedeater Sporophila nigricollis Costa Rica to Bolivia Dubois's seedeater Sporophila ardesiaca east-central Brazil Thick-billed seed finch Sporophila funerea southern Mexico, through Central America, to the Chocó in Colombia and Ecuador. Chestnut-bellied seed finch Sporophila angolensis Trinidad, Tobago, east Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas, Bolivia to east Brazil, Paraguay and northeast Argentina Nicaraguan seed finch Sporophila nuttingi Costa Rica, Nicaragua and northwestern Panama. Great-billed seed finch Sporophila maximiliani Brazil Large-billed seed finch Sporophila crassirostris Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela. Black-billed seed finch Sporophila atrirostris Ecuador, Peru and northwestern Bolivia Slate-coloured seedeater Sporophila schistacea Central America, the southwestern Amazon Basin, Colombia, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago and the Guianas. Temminck's seedeater Sporophila falcirostris Argentina and southeastern Brazil Buffy-fronted seedeater Sporophila frontalis northeastern Argentina and along the southeastern Brazil Plumbeous seedeater Sporophila plumbea Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Tropeiro seedeater Sporophila beltoni Brazil Rusty-collared seedeater Sporophila collaris Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. White-throated seedeater Sporophila albogularis Brazil. White-bellied seedeater Sporophila leucoptera Bolivia, Paraguay and eastern Brazil Parrot-billed seedeater Sporophila peruviana Ecuador and western Peru. Chestnut-throated seedeater Sporophila telasco southwestern Colombia to far northern Chile. Drab seedeater Sporophila simplex Ecuador and Peru. Chestnut-bellied seedeater Sporophila castaneiventris Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela Ruddy-breasted seedeater Sporophila minuta Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela. Copper seedeater Sporophila bouvreuil Brazil and Suriname. Black-and-tawny seedeater Sporophila nigrorufa eastern Bolivia and southwestern Brazil. Tawny-bellied seedeater Sporophila hypoxantha Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Dark-throated seedeater Sporophila ruficollis Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay Pearly-bellied seedeater Sporophila pileata Brazil, Paraguay, northern Uruguay and northeastern Argentina. Rufous-rumped seedeater Sporophila hypochroma Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, and Uruguay Chestnut seedeater Sporophila cinnamomea Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay Marsh seedeater Sporophila palustris Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Black-bellied seedeater Sporophila melanogaster Brazil. Ibera seedeater Sporophila iberaensis Argentina.
Possible extinct species: Hooded seedeater, Sporophila melanops – possibly extinct (20th century?), a hybrid or a color morph of S. nigricollis
References
Lijtmaer, D. A., N. M. Sharpe, P. L. Tubaro & S. C. Lougheed. 2004. Molecular phylogenetics and diversification of the genus Sporophila (Aves: Passeriformes). Mol. Philo. Evol. 33:562-579. Robbins, M. B., M. J. Braun, C. J. Huddleston, D. W. Finch, & C. M. Milensky (2005). First Guyana records, natural history, and systematics of the White-winged Seedeater (Dolospingus fringilloides). Ibis 147:334-341.
External links