Abstract
The species Sporophila bouvreuil comprises four subspecies: S. b. bouvreuil, S. b. pileata, S. b. saturata and S. b. crypta. The males of each subspecies differ in plumage whereas the females and juveniles are very similar and difficult to identify to subspecies. Here we use external morphological characters, mostly plumage, to examine the validity of the subspecies. A total of 209 specimens was examined (131 S. b. bouvreuil, 29 S. b. crypta, 43 S. b. pileata and 6 S. b. saturata). Although morphological measurements did not separate any taxa, plumage patterns support recognition of two taxonomic units, one of birds having reddish brown male plumage and the other of birds with grayish to white male plumage. Discrete diagnostic characters and sympatry in SE Brazil allow separation of Sporophila pileata (Sclater 1864) from S. bouvreuil (Müller 1776). On the other hand, S. b. saturata Hellmayr 1904 and S. b. crypta Sick 1968 should be considered synonyms of S. bouvreuil.
References
Amadon, D. (1966) Avian plumages and molts. Condor, 68, 263–278.
Areta, J.I. (2009) Paedomorphosis in Sporophila seedeaters. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club, 129 (2), 98–103.
Baldwin, S.P., Oberholser, H.C. & Worley, L.G. (1931) Measurements of birds. Cleveland; Cleveland of Museum of Natural History. 165 pp.
Belton, W. (1994) Aves do Rio Grande do Sul: distribuição e zoologia. São Leopoldo: Editora Unisinos. 584 pp.
Blaauw, F.E. (1919) On the eclipse plumage of Spermophila pileata. Ibis, 1, 83–84.
Buffon, G.L.L. & Montbeillard, P.G. (1778) Histoire Naturelle, Généralle et Particulière, avec la description du Cabinet du Roi. Histoire Naturelle Des Oiseaux . Tome Dix-neuviéme. Paris.
Cabanis, J.L. (1851) Museum Heineanum, verzeichniss der ornithologischen Sammlung. Theil I. 234 pp.
Campagna, L., Lijtmaer, D.A., Kerr, K.C.R., Barreira, A.S., Hebert, P.D.N., Lougheed, S.C. & Tubaro, P. (2009) DNA barcodes provide new evidence of a recent radiation in the genus Sporophila (Aves: Passeriformes). Molecular Ecology Resources, 10, 449–458.
Chubb, C. (1910) On the birds of Paraguay. Ibis, 9(4), 634 pp.
[Daubenton, L.J.M. & Daubenton, E.L. (1765–81) Planches enluminées]: pls 1–1008. [Paris].
Environmental Systems Research Institute (2002). Arc View 3.3. Redlands, California, USA.
Figueiredo, L. F. A.;Pontes, A. & Visconti, M. A. (2000) Levantamento da avifauna da Estação Experimental de Itapetininga. Boletim CEO 14, 62–65.
Gray, G. R. (1844) The Genera of Birds: comprising their generic characters and an extensive list of species, Volume II, 386 pp.
Guzzi, A. & Donatelli, R. 2003. Estudo da avifauna em dois fragmentos de mata mesófila no campus da UNESP de Botucatu, São Paulo. Boletim CEO, 15, 48–58.
Hellmayr, C.E. (1904) Über neune und wenig bebannte Fringilliden Brasiliens, nebst Bemerkungen über notwendige Änderungen in der Nomenklatur einiger Arten. Verhandllungen der kaiserlich-kongiglichen zoologish-botanischen gesellschaft in wien, 54, 516–537.
Hellmayr, C.E. (1929) A contribution to the ornithology of northeastern Brazil. Field Museum of the Natural History, Publications Zoology, 12(18), 235–501.
Hellmayr, C.E. (1938) Catalogue of birds of the American and the adjacent islands. Field Museum of the Natural History, Publications Zoology, 13(11), 171–227.
Ihering, H.F.A. von. (1898) As aves do estado de São Paulo. Revista do Museu Paulista, 3, 161 pp.
Ihering, H.F.A. von. (1907) Catálogos da Fauna Brasileira. Volume 1. São Paulo: Museu Paulista. 375 pp.
Krabbe, N. (2007) Birds collected by P. W. Lund and J. T. Reinhardt in south-eastern Brazil between 1825 and 1855, with notes on P. W. Lund’s travels in Rio de Janeiro. Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia, 15(3), 331–357.
Lesson, R.P. (1831) Traite d’Ornithologie, 6, 451 pp.
Machado, E. & Silveira, L.F. (2010) Geographical and seasonal distribution of the Seedeaters Sporophila bouvreuil and Sporophila pileata (Aves: Emberizidae). Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia, 50 (32):517–533.
Meyer de Schauensee, R. (1952) A review of the genus Sporophila. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 104, 153–196.
Meyer de Schauensee, R. (1966) The species of birds of South America with their distribution. Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Science of Philadelphia. 577 pp.
Müller, P.L.S. (1776) Natursystem Supplementum, 154 pp.
Munsell. (1994) Soil, color charts, revised edition. Macbeth Division of Kollmorgan Instruments Corporation, New Windsor, New York.
Ouellet, H. (1992) Speciation, zoogeography and taxonomic problems in the Neotropical genus Sporophila (Aves: Emberizinae). Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club, 112(A), 225–235.
Pelzeln, A. von. (1868) Zur Ornithologie Brasiliens; Resultate von Johann Natterers Reisen in den Jahren 1817 bis 1835, 224, 226, 331 pp.
Pinto, O.M.O. (1944) Catálogo das Aves do Brasil, Segunda parte. São Paulo: Departamento de Zoologia, Secretaria da Agricultura Indústria e Comércio, 770 pp.
Restall, R. (2006) Identifying Sporophila gray seedeaters in Venezuela. Neotropical Birding, 1, 48–61.
Restall, R., Rodner, C. & Lentino, M. (2007) Birds of Northern South America an identification guide. Volume 1: Species Accounts. Yale University Press: New Haven and London.
Ridgely, R.S. & Tudor, G. (1989) The birds of South America. vol. I. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Sclater, P.L. (1864) Descriptions of seven new species of birds discovered by the late Dr. John Natterer in Brazil. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 607 pp.
Sclater, P.L. (1871) A revision of the species of the Fringilline genus Spermophila. Ibis, 1, 1–23.
Sharpe, R.B. (1888) Catalogue of the birds in the British Museum. Vol. 12. London, Taylor and Francis. 871 pp.
Sick, H. (1967) “Bico de Ferro” – Overlooked Seedeater from Rio de Janeiro (Sporophila, Fringillidae, Aves). Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências, 39, 307–314.
Sick, H. (1968) Hennenfedrigen Rasse eines Pfäffchens aus Brasilieu: Sporophila bouvreuil crypta subsp. nov. Beiträge Zur Neotropischen Fauna, 5, 153–159.
Sick, H. (1997) Ornitologia Brasileira. Rio de Janeiro: Nova Fronteira.
Silva, J.M.C. (1995) Seasonal distribution of the Lined Seedeater Sporophila lineola. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club, 115(1), 14–21.
Silva, J.M.C. (1999) Seasonal movements and conservation of seedeaters of the genus Sporophila in South America. Studies in Avian Biology, 19, 272–280.
Snethlage, E. (1914) Catálogo das aves Amazonicas contendo todas as espécies descriptas e mencionadas até 1913. Boletim do Museu Goeldi de Historia Natural e Ethnographia, Tomo VIII, 530 pp.
Spix, J.B.R. von (1825) Avium species novae, quas in itinere per Brasiliam annis MDCCXVII – MDCCCXX […] collegit et descripsit. Franc. Seraph. Hübschmann, Monachii [Munich], 1, [VII], 90 pp., 91 pls.
Stotz, D.F., Fitzpatrick, J.W., Parker III, T.A. & Moskovits, D.K. (1996) Neotropical Birds: Ecology and Conservation. Chicago: University Chicago Press.
Swainson, W. (1837) On the natural history and classification of birds, 2, 294 pp.
Vieillot, L.J.P. (1823) Tableau Encyclopedique et Méthodique des trios regnes de la naturae. Ornithologie. 1027 pp.
Wied, M. (1830) Beiträge zur Naturgeschichte von Brasilien, Volume III.