Tanagers (Thraupidae)

Grey-headed Tanager (Eucometis penicillata) - HBW 16, p. 177

French: Tangara à tête grise German: Graukopftangare Spanish: Tangara Cabecigrís
Other common names: Grey-crested Tanager (cristata)

Taxonomy: Tanagra penicillata Spix, 1825, no locality = Fonte Boa, Amazonas, Brazil.
Recent molecular-genetic studies suggest that this genus and Trichothraupis are sister-taxa. Marked geographical variation in size and plumage; also, genetic analyses have shown that, while two individuals from adjacent sites in Bolivia (race albicollis) differed in sequence divergence values of only 0·35%, populations from Middle America differed from Bolivian ones by 4·8%, as much as or more than that between many passerine taxa now recognized as separate species. Further study needed. Seven subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

pallida Berlepsch, 1888 - SE Mexico (on Caribbean slope from S Veracruz, N Oaxaca, and Yucatán Peninsula), N & C Guatemala, Belize and N Honduras (S to Olancho).
spodocephalus (Bonaparte, 1853) - both slopes of Nicaragua S to Costa Rica (S on Pacific slope to Guanacaste and on Caribbean slope to Alajuela).
stictothorax Berlepsch, 1888 - Pacific slope of Costa Rica (S from Puntarenas) S to Panama (Veraguas).

See all 7 subspecies

pallida Berlepsch, 1888 - SE Mexico (on Caribbean slope from S Veracruz, N Oaxaca, and Yucatán Peninsula), N & C Guatemala, Belize and N Honduras (S to Olancho).
spodocephalus (Bonaparte, 1853) - both slopes of Nicaragua S to Costa Rica (S on Pacific slope to Guanacaste and on Caribbean slope to Alajuela).
stictothorax Berlepsch, 1888 - Pacific slope of Costa Rica (S from Puntarenas) S to Panama (Veraguas).
cristata (du Bus de Gisignies, 1855) - Panama (Caribbean slope from Coclé E to C Panama, and Pacific slope E from Veraguas) E to Colombia (S in Cauca Valley to Valle, and in Magdalena Valley to Huila; also E of Andes in Arauca), and NW Venezuela (E to Mérida and extreme W Portuguesa).
affinis Berlepsch, 1888 - N Venezuela from Falcón E to Miranda.
penicillata (Spix, 1825) - E of Andes from Colombia (Meta and Amazonas) S through E Ecuador to Peru (Ucayali), and E across much of NC Brazil to Atlantic (W Maranhão); also S Venezuela (NW Amazonas) and the Guianas.
albicollis (d’Orbigny & Lafresnaye, 1837) - E of Andes from N Bolivia (Pando, La Paz and Santa Cruz) E across C Brazil (Mato Grosso E to Minas Gerais and W São Paulo); also NE Paraguay (sight record Concepción).