Buntings and New World Sparrows (Emberizidae)

Rufous-breasted Warbling-finch (Poospiza rubecula) - HBW 16, p. 625

French: Chipiu rougegorge German: Rostbauch-Ammerfink Spanish: Monterita Pechirrufa

Taxonomy: Poospiza rubecula Salvin, 1895, Huamachuco, 10,400 feet [c. 3170 m], La Libertad, Peru.
New molecular data indicate that genus forms a clade with the tanager (Thraupidae) genera Hemispingus and Thlypopsis, and that Compsospiza, which often subsumed within present genus, is sister to that clade. Closest relatives of present species uncertain; further study required. Has been hypothesized that, on basis of plumage similarities, it is closely related to Compsospiza mountain-finches. Monotypic.

Distribution: W slope of Peruvian Andes from S Cajamarca and La Libertad S to Lima and probably Ica.