Black-headed brushfinch


The black-headed brushfinch is a species of bird in the family Passerellidae. It is found in the undergrowth of humid forest, especially near edges, at altitudes of in Colombia and Panama.

Taxonomy

Until recently, the black-headed brushfinch was placed in the genus Buarremon.
The black-headed brushfinch was often treated as a subspecies of the stripe-headed brushfinch, but the distributions of the two approach each other closely in Colombia with no evidence of intergradation. In addition, the Costa Rican brushfinch, A. costaricensis has often been treated as a subspecies of the stripe-headed brushfinch, or a subspecies of the black-headed brushfinch, but based on ecology, morphology, song, and molecular work, it has recently been suggested that A. costaricensis is worthy of treatment as a species. In that case, the black-headed brushfinch would only include the subspecies tacarcunae, and be restricted to Colombia and eastern Panama.