Spinus psaltria

Formerly (AOU 1983, 1998) listed in Carduelis. Acanthis and Spinus were considered separate genera prior to their merger into Carduelis (AOU 1983), in part following Mayr and Short (1970), although they continued to be listed as subgenera. Recent mitochondrial genetic data (Arnaiz-Villena et al. 2008) indicate that Carduelis is polyphyletic and that Acanthis spp., Spinus spp., Carduelis carduelis, and Chloris sinica belong to different clades.

This species is widespread and abundant from western North America south to northern South America. There are localized threats of loss of habitat and capture for the cage bird trade. The population is stable and the range is expanding northward in the U.S.

This species is widespread across the western United States, most of México, parts of Central America, and northern South America (Watt and Willoughby 2020). In the United States, it is resident in southwestern Washington, western Oregon, northeastern California, southern Nevada, southern Arizona, southern New Mexico, and southern and central Texas. There is also a summer breeding population in the Rocky Mountain and Great Basin regions. It is found in most of México. In Central America, it is found in western Guatemala, El Salvador, western Honduras, extreme northern Nicaragua, central and southern Costa Rica, and much of southern Panamá. In South America, it is found in the Andes Mountains of northern Venezuela, northern and western Colombia, northern and southern Ecuador, and northern Peru.

There are many occurrences throughout the range.

The loss of native grassland and riparian habitats is a localized threat (Watt and Willoughby 2020). Capture for the cage-bird trade is a threat in parts of Latin America (Stiles and Skutch 1989, Marin-Espinoze et al. 2011).