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Chlorospingus

Chlorospingus is a genus of perching birds, the bush tanagers, traditionally placed in the tanager family (Thraupidae). More recent studies which suggest they are closely related to the genus Arremonops in the Passerellidae. As of July, 2017, the American Ornithological Society assigns the genus to the new family Passerellidae, which contains the New World sparrows.

Last revised
Jul 5, 2026
Read time
≈ 3 min
Length
592 w
Citations
10
Source
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Chlorospingus
Common chlorospingus (C. flavopectus)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Passerellidae
Genus: Chlorospingus
Cabanis, 1851
Type species
Chlorospingus leucophrys Cabanis, 1851=Arremon ophthalmicus Du Busde Gisignies, 1847
Species

See text

Chlorospingus is a genus of perching birds, the bush tanagers, traditionally placed in the tanager family (Thraupidae). More recent studies which suggest they are closely related to the genus Arremonops in the Passerellidae (American sparrows). As of July, 2017, the American Ornithological Society assigns the genus to the new family Passerellidae, which contains the New World sparrows.1

Taxonomy

The genus Chlorospingus was introduced in 1851 by the German ornithologist Jean Cabanis to accommodate a single species, Chlorospingus leucophrys Cabanis.2 This scientific name is a junior synonym of Arremon ophthalmicus Du Busde Gisignies, 1847, which is now treated as a subspecies of Chlorospingus flavopectus, the common chlorospingus.345 The genus name Chlorospingus combined the Ancient Greek χλωρος/khlōros meaning "green" with σπινος/spinos a small bird found in Greece, perhaps a chaffinch.6

The genus contains the following eight species:5

Image Common name Scientific name Distribution
- Yellow-throated chlorospingus Chlorospingus flavigularis northern Andes
Yellow-whiskered chlorospingus Chlorospingus parvirostris northern Andes
Ashy-throated chlorospingus Chlorospingus canigularis Talamancan montane forests and northern Andes
Sooty-capped chlorospingus Chlorospingus pileatus Talamancan montane forests
Common chlorospingus Chlorospingus flavopectus montane Neotropics
- Tacarcuna chlorospingus Chlorospingus tacarcunae Panama, including Cerro Tacarcuna
- Pirre chlorospingus Chlorospingus inornatus Cerro Pirre (eastern Panama)
Dusky chlorospingus Chlorospingus semifuscus western slope of Colombian and Ecuadorian Andes

The taxonomy and systematics of the common bush tanager are under review; it appears to be a superspecies or even a complex of superspecies.789

References

References

  1. R. Terry Chesser; Kevin J. Burns; Carla Cicero; Jon L. Dunn; Andrew W. Kratter; Irby J. Lovette; Pamela C. Rasmussen; J. V. Remsen, Jr.; James D. Rising; Douglas F. Stotz; Kevin Winker (2017). "Fifty-eighth supplement to the American Ornithological Society's Check-list of North American Birds". Auk. 134 (3): 751–773. doi:10.1642/AUK-17-72.1.
  2. Cabanis, Jean (1851). Museum Heineanum : Verzeichniss der ornithologischen Sammlung des Oberamtmann Ferdinand Heine, auf Gut St. Burchard vor Halberstadt (in German and Latin). Vol. 1. Halberstadt: R. Frantz. p. 139. For the publication date of volume 1 see: Dickinson, E.C.; Overstreet, L.K.; Dowsett, R.J.; Bruce, M.D. (2011). Priority! The Dating of Scientific Names in Ornithology: a Directory to the literature and its reviewers. Northampton, UK: Aves Press. pp. 80–81. ISBN 978-0-9568611-1-5.
  3. Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, ed. (1970). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 13. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 254.
  4. Dickinson, E.C.; Christidis, L., eds. (2014). The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World (PDF). Vol. 2: Passerines (4th ed.). Eastbourne, UK: Aves Press. p. 340. ISBN 978-0-9568611-2-2.
  5. AviList Core Team (2025). "AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025". doi:10.2173/avilist.v2025. Retrieved 31 March 2026.
  6. Jobling, James A. "Chlorospingus". The Key to Scientific Names. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 21 March 2025.
  7. Peterson, A. Townsend; Escalante P., Patricia; Navarro-Sigüenza, Adolfo G. (1992). "Genetic variation and differentiation in Mexican populations of Common Bush-tanagers and Chestnut-capped Brush Finches" (PDF). The Condor. 94 (1): 244–253. doi:10.2307/1368813. hdl:1808/16634. JSTOR 1368813.
  8. García-Moreno, Jaime; Navarro-Sigüenza, Adolfo G.; Peterson, A. Townsend; Sánchez-González, Luis A. (2004). "Genetic variation coincides with geographic structure in the common bush-tanager (Chlorospingus ophthalmicus) complex from Mexico" (PDF). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 33 (1): 186–196. Bibcode:2004MolPE..33..186G. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2004.05.007. PMID 15324847. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-04-17.
  9. Sánchez-González, Luis A.; Navarro-Sigüenza, Adolfo G.; Peterson, A. Townsend; García-Moreno, Jaime (2007). "Taxonomy of Chlorospingus ophthalmicus in Mexico and northern Central America" (PDF). Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. 127 (1): 34–49. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-02-21.