The white-browed brushfinch (''Arremon torquatus'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

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 th ...

. It lives in northwestern

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

, and southern

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. It is generally common in forest and dense second growth, mainly at altitudes of , but locally it occurs at far lower altitudes.Ridgely, R. S., & G. Tudor. (1989). ''Birds of South America. The Oscine Passerines.'' Vol. 1. Oxford University Press. It previously was considered the nominate subspecies of the stripe-headed brushfinch.

Taxonomy

Until recently, the white-browed brushfinch was placed in the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

Buarremon ''Arremon'' is a genus of neotropical birds in the family Passerellidae. With the exception of the green-striped brushfinch which is endemic to Mexico, all species are found in South America, with a few reaching Central America. These sparr ...

''.Cadena, C. D., J. Klicka and R. E. Ricklefs. (2007). ''Evolutionary differentiation in the Neotropical montane region: molecular phylogenetics and phylogeography of Buarremon brush-finches (Aves, Emberizidae).'' Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 44(3): 993-1016. Considerable racial variation existed in the formerly named stripe-headed brushfinch, and based on

ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...

, song, and

molecular A molecule is a group of two or more atoms that are held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions that satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemistry, ...

work it was recently suggested that it be split into eight species.Cadena, C. D., and A. M. Cuervo (2009). ''Molecules, ecology, morphology, and songs in concert: how many species is Arremon torquatus (Aves: Emberizidae)?'' Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 99(1): 152-176

References

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1307528 white-browed brushfinch Birds of the Northern Andes white-browed brushfinch white-browed brushfinch white-browed brushfinch Taxonomy articles created by Polbot