Sporophila

Sporophila is a genus of Neotropical birds in the tanager family Thraupidae. The genus now includes the six seed finches that were previously placed in the genus Oryzoborus.

They are relatively small with stubby, conical bills adapted for feeding on seeds and alike. Most species are strongly sexually dimorphic, and while "typical" adult males often are distinctive, female and immatures of both sexes can be very difficult (in some species virtually impossible) to identify to exact species. Females of at least some of these species have different ultraviolet colours, which can be seen by birds, but not humans. Female-like (paedomorphic) males apparently also occur, at least in some species.

Taxonomy and species list

The genus Spermophila was introduced by the English naturalist William Swainson in 1827. The type species was subsequently designated as Temminck's seedeater (Sporophila falcirostris) by George Robert Gray in 1841. As the genus name Spermophila had been introduced by John Richardson in 1825 for a genus of mammals, the German ornithologist Jean Cabanis coined the present name Sporophila as a replacement in 1844. The name combines the Ancient Greek meaning "seed" and meaning "-loving".

The genus now includes the six seed finches that were previously placed in Oryzoborus as well as the thick-billed seed finch that was the only species in Dolospingus. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2014 found that these seven species were embedded in Sporophila.

The genus contains 41 species:

Image	Common name	Scientific name	Distribution
File:Sporophila bouvronides - Leson's Seedeater (male); Iranduba, Amazonas, Brazil 02.jpg	Lesson's seedeater	Sporophila bouvronides	Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela.
File:BIGODINHO (Sporophila lineola ).jpg	Lined seedeater	Sporophila lineola	Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.
File:Sporophila torqueola 55799290.jpg	Cinnamon-rumped seedeater	Sporophila torqueola	western Mexico
File:Sporophila morelleti, Cockscomb Basin, Belize 01.jpg	Morelet’s seedeater	Sporophila morelleti	Rio Grande Valley through eastern Mexico and Central America to western Panama
File:Sporophila-corvina-003.jpg	Variable seedeater	Sporophila corvina	southern Mexico through Central America to the Chocó of northwestern South America
File:Sporophila intermedia Espiguero gris Grey Seedeater (16133817298).jpg	Grey seedeater	Sporophila intermedia	Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela.
File:Sporophila americana - Wing-barred seedeater (male).JPG	Wing-barred seedeater	Sporophila americana	north-eastern Venezuela, Tobago, the Guianas, Brazil
	White-naped seedeater	Sporophila fringilloides	Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela.
File:Black-and-white Seedeater BW12b.jpg	Black-and-white seedeater	Sporophila luctuosa	Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.
File:Sporophila caerulescens.jpg	Double-collared seedeater	Sporophila caerulescens	Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay
File:Sporophila nigricollis Espiguero capuchino Yellow-bellied Seedeater (6459067013).jpg	Yellow-bellied seedeater	Sporophila nigricollis	Costa Rica to Bolivia
File:Sporophila ardesiaca - Dubois's Seedeater (male).JPG	Dubois's seedeater	Sporophila ardesiaca	east-central Brazil
File:Thick-billed Seed-Finch - Sarapiqui - Costa Rica MG 0887 (26405624880) (cropped).jpg	Thick-billed seed finch	Sporophila funerea	southern Mexico, through Central America, to the Chocó in Colombia and Ecuador.
File:Oryzoborus angolensis -Piraju, Sao Paulo, Brazil-8 (1).jpg	Chestnut-bellied seed finch	Sporophila angolensis	Trinidad, Tobago, east Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas, Bolivia to east Brazil, Paraguay and northeast Argentina
File:Nicaraguan Seed-Finch 2014-11-15 (1) (cropped).jpg	Nicaraguan seed finch	Sporophila nuttingi	Costa Rica, Nicaragua and northwestern Panama.
File:Sporophila maximiliani Great-billed Seed-finch (male), Mato Grosso, Brazil.jpg	Great-billed seed finch	Sporophila maximiliani	Brazil
File:Large-billed Seed-Finch - Darien - Panama (48444795082) (cropped).jpg	Large-billed seed finch	Sporophila crassirostris	Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela.
File:Black-billed seed finch (Sporophila atrirostris) (cropped).jpg	Black-billed seed finch	Sporophila atrirostris	Ecuador, Peru and northwestern Bolivia
File:Sporophila schistacea by Franscesco Veronesi (cropped).jpg	Slate-coloured seedeater	Sporophila schistacea	Central America, the southwestern Amazon Basin, Colombia, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago and the Guianas.
File:Sporophila falcirostris -Horto Florestal de Sao Paulo, Brazil-8.jpg	Temminck's seedeater	Sporophila falcirostris	Argentina and southeastern Brazil
File:Buffy-fronted Seedeater - Itatiaia - Brazil MG 0776 (23095834790).jpg	Buffy-fronted seedeater	Sporophila frontalis	northeastern Argentina and along the southeastern Brazil
File:Sporophila plumbea-Plumbeous Seedeater.jpg	Plumbeous seedeater	Sporophila plumbea	Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.
File:Sporophila beltoni - Tropeiro Seedeater (male).JPG	Tropeiro seedeater	Sporophila beltoni	Brazil
File:Sporophila collaris -Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil -male-8.jpg	Rusty-collared seedeater	Sporophila collaris	Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
File:Sporophila albogularis - White-throated Seedeater (male); Potengi, Ceará, Brazil crop.jpg	White-throated seedeater	Sporophila albogularis	Brazil.
File:Sporophila leucoptera-male.jpg	White-bellied seedeater	Sporophila leucoptera	Bolivia, Paraguay and eastern Brazil
File:Sporophila peruviana - Parrot-billed Seedeater - male.jpg	Parrot-billed seedeater	Sporophila peruviana	Ecuador and western Peru.
File:Chestnut-throatedSeedeater (cropped).jpg	Chestnut-throated seedeater	Sporophila telasco	southwestern Colombia to far northern Chile.
File:DrabSeedeater.jpg	Drab seedeater	Sporophila simplex	Ecuador and Peru.
File:Sporophila castaneiventris Espiguero buchicastaño Chestnut-bellied Seedeater (male) (17986615113).jpg	Chestnut-bellied seedeater	Sporophila castaneiventris	Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela
File:Ruddy-breasted Seedeater.jpg	Ruddy-breasted seedeater	Sporophila minuta	Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela.
File:Sporophila bouvreuil.jpg	Copper seedeater	Sporophila bouvreuil	Brazil and Suriname.
File:Sporophila nigrorufa - Black-and-tawny Seedeater (male); Vila Bela da Santíssima Trindade, Mato Grosso, Brazil.jpg	Black-and-tawny seedeater	Sporophila nigrorufa	eastern Bolivia and southwestern Brazil.
File:Sporophila hypoxantha.jpg	Tawny-bellied seedeater	Sporophila hypoxantha	Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
File:Sporophila ruficollis - Dark-throated Seedeater (male) (cropped).JPG	Dark-throated seedeater	Sporophila ruficollis	Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay
File:Sporophila pileata - Pearly-bellied Seedeater.jpg	Pearly-bellied seedeater	Sporophila pileata	Brazil, Paraguay, northern Uruguay and northeastern Argentina.
File:Sporophila hypochroma - Red-rumped seedeater (male).jpg	Rufous-rumped seedeater	Sporophila hypochroma	Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, and Uruguay
File:Sporophila cinnamomea - Chestnut Seedeater (male); Iberá marshes, Corrientes, Argentina.jpg	Chestnut seedeater	Sporophila cinnamomea	Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay
File:Sporophila palustris - Marsh Seedeater (male); Iberá marshes, Corrientes, Argentina.jpg	Marsh seedeater	Sporophila palustris	Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
File:Sporophila melanogaster - Black-bellied seedeater (male).jpg	Black-bellied seedeater	Sporophila melanogaster	Brazil.
File:Sporophila iberaensis - Ibera Seedeater (male); Aquidauana, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil (1).jpg	Ibera seedeater	Sporophila iberaensis	Argentina.

Possible extinct species:

• Hooded seedeater, Sporophila melanops – possibly extinct (20th century?), a hybrid or a color morph of S. nigricollis

References

• Lijtmaer, D. A., N. M. Sharpe, P. L. Tubaro & S. C. Lougheed. 2004. Molecular phylogenetics and diversification of the genus Sporophila (Aves: Passeriformes). Mol. Philo. Evol. 33:562-579.
• Robbins, M. B., M. J. Braun, C. J. Huddleston, D. W. Finch, & C. M. Milensky (2005). First Guyana records, natural history, and systematics of the White-winged Seedeater (Dolospingus fringilloides). Ibis 147:334-341.