A taxonomic assessment of Chlorospingus flavopectus phaeocephalus and Chlorospingus semifuscus (Passeriformes: Passerellidae), including the description of a new subspecies Author Sánchez-Nivicela, Manuel 0000-0002-1989-5356 Instituto Nacional de la Biodiversidad del Ecuador (INABIO), calle Rumipamba 341 y Av. de Los Shyris, Casilla 17 - 07 - 8976, Quito, Ecuador. clandestine. bird @ gmail. com; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0002 - 1989 - 5356 & Comité Ecuatoriano de Registros Ornitológicos (CERO), Ecuador. & Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Laboratorio de Biología Evolutiva, Colegio de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales, Ecuador. clandestine.bird@gmail.com Author Avendaño, Jorge Enrique 0000-0002-8707-3987 Laboratorio de Biología Evolutiva de Vertebrados, Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia. jorgeavec @ gmail. com; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0002 - 8707 - 3987 jorgeavec@gmail.com Author Sánchez-Nivicela, Juan C. 0000-0002-1989-5356 Instituto Nacional de la Biodiversidad del Ecuador (INABIO), calle Rumipamba 341 y Av. de Los Shyris, Casilla 17 - 07 - 8976, Quito, Ecuador. clandestine. bird @ gmail. com; https: // orcid. org / 0000 - 0002 - 1989 - 5356 & Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Facultad de Ciencias, Bogotá D. C., Colombia; Grupo de Investigación Evolución y Ecología de Fauna Neotropical & Universidad San Francisco de Quito USFQ, Colegio de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales COCIBA, Laboratorio de Zoología Terrestre y Museo de Zoología, Campus Cumbayá, Quito 170901, Ecuador. clandestine.bird@gmail.com Author Torres, Ana Université Paris Est Créteil, LAB’URBA, F- 94010 Créteil, France. & Centre d'Ecologie et des Sciences de la Conservation (CESCO UMR 7204), MNHN, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, CP 135, 57 rue Cuvier, 75005 Paris, France. Author Fuchs, Jérôme Institut Systématique Evolution Biodiversité (ISYEB), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, EPHE, 57 rue Cuvier, CP 51, 75005 Paris, France. Author Bird, Bentley American Museum of Natural History, Department of Ornithology, Central Park West at 79 Street, New York, New York 10024 - 5192. Office: 212 - 769 - 5788 Author Bonaccorso, Elisa Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Laboratorio de Biología Evolutiva, Colegio de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales, Ecuador. text Zootaxa 2021 2021-10-21 5057 2 151 180 journal article 3933 10.11646/zootaxa.5057.2.1 395b5c2c-b75f-4803-956d-176d8677b9aa 1175-5326 5588075 013C52EC-D0BD-4569-AAFE-36D920895553 Chlorospingus semifuscus semifuscus Sclater & Salvin, 1873 Plumage and iris coloration (n = 48; 18 males , 18 females , and 12 unsexed). —Throat color and pattern: smoke gray (C.44) with scarce dark neutral gray (c.83) and/or glaucous (C.79) speckles; a fine hint of a dark neutral gray (C.83) moustachial stripe may be observed depending on the angle. Pectoral band: absent, but hints of olive-yellow (C.52), light yellowish olive (i. 23) mixed with pale neutral gray (C.86) on this body part; it gives the impression of a faint breast band. Sides of shoulders: olive-yellow (C.52). Belly: a mixture of medium (C.84), light (C.85), and pale neutral gray (C.86); barbules sometimes olive-yellow (C.52) and/or light yellowish olive ( i. 23). Iris red, ruby, or orange-red. Breeding. —In Ecuador : MSN observed a begging fledgling in Quinde Luna (feeders area), northwest Pichincha Province , on 2 February 2019 ; a juvenile being fed by an adult was photographed by MSN at Birdwatchers House on Santa Rosa area, Pichincha Province , on 4 November 2018 . In Colombia : A juvenile reported from west Nariño in July ( Fjeldså & Krabbe 1990 ). At Ñambí River, La Planada, Nariño Department : on 9 August 1995 and 13 May 1996 , a pair carrying nesting material; a nest under construction on 23 April 1997 ; adults feeding fledglings and juveniles between October and December 1995 , and in July 1996 ; young birds being fed in June and September 1997 ( Bohórquez & Stiles 2002 ); adults carrying food and feeding young in April, and on 29 June and 11 July 1998 ( Strewe 2001 ). Distribution. —From the Pacific slope in Nariño Department , Colombia (southern bank of the Patía River valley), southwards along the Ecuadorian western Andean slope towards El Porvenir, in Bolívar Province, at 1200‒ 2300 m (locally higher) ( Freile et al. 2020 ; Hilty 2020b ). The southern limit is inferred by the existence of a single skin of a male dated 1899 (NHMUK 1931.11.23.8), from El Porvenir, Bolívar Province, with no confirmed reports of this taxon in this Province since then. Possibly, the current southern limit of the distribution of C. s. semifuscus is the Angamarca River. However, this river is considered a lesser barrier ( Krabbe et al. 1998 ), allowing occasional dispersal to Bolívar Province, as far south as El Porvenir. A revision of mislabeled specimens is available in Supplementary Material A9.