Gray-hooded Sierra Finch Phrygilus gayi Scientific name definitions

"This species of the large genus Fringilla has already been reported several times; it is found in Chile, where it appears fairly widespread. We dedicated it to Mr Gay, a naturalist traveller who had several individuals in his collections and would certainly have described it if a new start would not have prevented it. The individual who is the subject of our description was killed by Mr Eydoux; he offered us the following characters: head and throat, as well as wing pinnae, tail and its upper coverts, of an ashy grey, which quite well with the yellow of the underside of the neck and the yellowish-green back; the lower abdomen is light yellow; covers lower tail are white; a line very fine greenish separates the grey of the throat from the yellow of the chest..." J. M. T. Eydoux and F. L. P. Gervais, 1834 (1 Eydoux, T., and P. Gervais (1834). Moineau. Fringilla. Linné. M. de Gay. F. Gayi. Magasin de Zoologie 4: 23. Close ).

The Gray-hooded Sierra Finch is a charismatic bird, mainly because the male exhibits an attractive plumage, has a melodic song, and has a high tolerance to human presence. This species has had a complicated taxonomic history. As the English name implies, it long was considered to be a species of "finch" or sparrow (i.e., a member variously of Fringillidae or Emberizidae), although now it is classified as a member of the tanager family (Thraupidae). This species also formerly included populations in Peru and Bolivia that now are recognized as separate species: Black-hooded Sierra Finch (Phrygilus atriceps) and Peruvian Sierra Finch (Phrygilus punensis). Even so, the taxonomic issues associated with this species may not yet be resolved. For example, some debate remains whether the endemic Chilean subspecies, minor, belongs with Gray-hooded Sierra Finch or if it is more closely related to Patagonian Sierra Finch (Phrygilus patagonicus). Also, a population present in the southernmost coastal range of the Atacama Desert in Chile could be an undescribed subspecies. The difficulties in identifying among the subspecies of Gray-hooded Sierra Finch, the Patagonian Sierra Finch, and sometimes the Black-hooded Sierra Finch have contributed to the confusion and misidentification in between them. However, through the enthusiasm of citizen scientists, our knowledge has been improving in recent years. In this account, whenever the data permit, the Gray-hooded Sierra Finch will be treated as four forms, the three currently recognized subspecies and the distinct population of the Coastal Atacama Desert.