Buntings and New World Sparrows (Emberizidae)

Red-crested Finch (Coryphospingus cucullatus) - HBW 16, p. 640

French: Araguira rougeâtre German: Haubenkronfink Spanish: Soldadito Crestirrojo
Other common names: Red-pileated Finch

Taxonomy: Fringilla cucullata Statius Müller, 1776, Cayenne, French Guiana.
Molecular data strongly indicate that genus belongs in tanager family (Thraupidae) and is sister to a group containing Lanio, Fulvous-crested Tanager (Tachyphonus surinamus), Trichothraupis and Eucometis. Present species sometimes considered conspecific with C. pileatus; hybrids between the two reported in Brazil. Race fargoi slightly more greyish in S of range than in N, and S population described as a separate race, araguira, but differences considered trivial. Three subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

cucullatus (Statius Müller, 1776) - Guyana, Suriname and NE Brazil (E Pará).
fargoi Brodkorb, 1938 - extreme S Ecuador (S Zamora-Chinchipe), NW & SE Peru (upper Marañón Valley and Urubamba Valley), Bolivia (La Paz, S Beni, Cochabamba, Santa Cruz, Chuquisaca and Tarija), W Paraguay and N Argentina (S to La Rioja, San Luis, La Pampa and N Buenos Aires).
rubescens (Swainson, 1825) - C & S Brazil (S from S Mato Grosso, S Goiás, W Minas Gerais and São Paulo), E Paraguay, NE Argentina E of R Paraná, and Uruguay.