Kingdom Animalia Order Passeriformes Scientific name Amaurospiza Rank Genus | Phylum Chordata Family Cardinalidae Higher classification American Sparrows | |
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Lower classifications Blackish‑blue seedeater, Blue seedeater, Carrizal seedeater | ||
Amaurospiza is a genus of birds. These "seedeaters" were formerly associated with the American sparrows and placed in the Emberizidae or (in the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy) the Fringillidae. The generic name is derived from the Ancient Greek amauros ("dusky") + spiza ("finch").
Actually, they are part of the tanager-cardinal lineage. The AOU moved this genus into the Cardinalidae family in 2008. They may actually belong in one genus with the aberrant blue "grosbeaks" of the genus Cyanocompsa. If that is correct, the dickcissel in the genus Spiza would, quite amusingly, indeed turn out to be one of their closest living relatives.
Amaurospiza contains the following species:
References
Amaurospiza Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA