Lophospingus


Lophospingus is a small genus of South American birds in the tanager family Thraupidae.
These finches are mostly gray and have prominent upstanding crests. They live in open habitats in southern South America.

Taxonomy and species list

The genus Lophospingus was introduced in 1878 by the German ornithologists Jean Cabanis with the black-crested finch as the type species. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek lophos meaning "crest" and spingos meaning "finch".
The genus contains two species:
ImageScientific nameCommon nameDistribution
Lophospingus griseocristatusGrey-crested finchBolivia and northwestern Argentina
Lophospingus pusillusBlack-crested finchBolivia, Paraguay and northern Argentina.