Cinereous Finch
Piezorina cinerea
Gray bird with a yellow bill and legs found in arid areas of northwestern Peru. Despite its name, it is currently placed in the tanager family, though its thick, stubby bill does give it a finch-like look. Young birds have less black on the face than adults, and paler bill and legs. Similar to Band-tailed Sierra Finch, but has a stubbier bill and lacks brown streaks on the back. Most common in deserts with scattered small trees, though also occasionally found in denser forest.
Taxonomy
The cinereous finch was formally described in 1843 by the French ornithologist Frédéric de Lafresnaye under the binomial name Guiraca cinerea. In the same publication he proposed a new genus Piezorina with the cinereous finch as the type species. Lafresnaye believed that his specimen had come from the Galápagos Islands, but it does not occur there and in 1930 the American ornithologist Outram Bangs amended the type location to northwest Peru. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek piezō meaning "to crush" with rhinos meaning "nose". The specific epithet cinerea is Latin and means "ash-grey" or "ash-coloured". The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.<p>A molecular phylogenetic study of the tanagers published in 2014 found that the cinereous finch was a member of the subfamily Poospizinae and was closely related to the slender-billed finch (Xenospingus concolor).
- Scientific name
- Piezorina cinerea
- Authority
- (Lafresnaye, 1843)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Thraupidae
- Genus
- Piezorina
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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