Taczanowski's brushfinch

Taczanowski's brushfinch is a species of passerine bird in the New World sparrow family Passerellidae. It is found in montane forest and woodland of central Peru. It was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the slaty brushfinch.

Taxonomy

Taczanowski's brushfinch was formally described in 1874 by the Polish zoologist Władysław Taczanowski under the binomial name Buarremon mystacalis based on a specimen collected in the Andes of central Peru. Unfortunately, he chose a specific epithet that had been used in 1852 by Philip Sclater for Arremon mysticalis, now considered to be a junior synonym of Tanagra albofrenatus Boissonneu, 1840, the moustached brushfinch. In 1875 the English ornithologists Philip Sclater and Osbert Salvin proposed the replacement name Buarremon taczanowskii for this species. Taczanowski's brushfinch was formerly treated as a subspecies of the slaty brushfinch. It is now considered as a separate species based on differences in morphology, vocalizations and mitochondrial DNA sequences. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.