Moustached Brushfinch

The moustached brushfinch (Atlapetes albofrenatus) is a species of bird in the family Passerellidae. It is found in northern Colombia, where its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forest and heavily degraded former forest. == Taxonomy and systematics == The moustached brushfinch was first formally described in 1940 by the French ornithologist Auguste Boissonneau. He named it Tanagra (arremon) albo-frenatus, considering it to be part of the Tanager family. A study of the mitochondrial DNA gene sequences for the family Passerellidae indicated that the moustached brushfinch is most closely related to the ochre-breasted brushfinch, found in Colombia and Venezuela, and the Santa Marta brushfinch, endemic to Colombia. Two subspecies are recognised: A. a. albofrenatus (Boissonneau, A, 1840) – eastern Andes of Colombia (Norte de Santander to Cundinamarca) A. a. meridae (Sclater, PL & Salvin, O, 1871) – Andes of western Venezuela (Táchira and Mérida) The subspecies A. a. meridae has sometimes been treated as a separate species, the Merida brushfinch, but both taxa have variable plumage and there is no published genetic data. == Description == Like most Atlapetes species, the moustached brushfinch is a large-headed, long-tailed New World sparrow. Adult. Adults are between 17.5 and 18cm in…