Porphyrospiza alaudina
Silhouette: Manabu Sakamoto · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The band-tailed sierra finch (Rhopospina alaudina) is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae, the tanagers and allies. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru. The band-tailed sierra finch has a complicated taxonomic history that is not yet fully resolved. It was formally described in 1833 with the binomial Fringilla alaudina. By the early twentieth century it had been reassigned to the genus Phrygilus. At some time after 1993 some systems again reassigned it, this time to genus Porphyrospiza. That genus was long in family Emberizidae which at the time held many New and Old World species. There it was grouped with the cardinalines which were later separated as the family Cardinalidae. A study published in 2007 showed that the genus belonged in its present tanager family Thraupidae. Beginning in 2019 most taxonomic systems began reassigning the band-tailed sierra finch to the resurrected genus Rhopospina that had been erected in 1851. However, in 2016 BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World moved it from Phrygilus to Corydospiza and as of late 2025 retains it there.
The band-tailed sierra finch has these six subspecies... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lauca National Park | 🇨🇱 Chile |
More parks will be added in future updates.
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Band-tailed Sierra-Finch sighting in La Paz on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 72nd most-seen of the 88 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Band-tailed Sierra-Finch in La Paz on a given day, against under 5% in January–February and April–November, the lowest months. That is one of La Paz's wettest months, with about 110 mm of rain against 10 mm in June.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Band-tailed Sierra-Finch sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 4 cities where we can rate Band-tailed Sierra-Finch sightings, La Paz ranks 2nd at under 5%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Santiago (Chile, under 5%).
Same family: Thraupidae
The closest relatives of the Band-tailed Sierra-Finch that you can see in La Paz (family Thraupidae, Tanagers and Allies) are Peruvian Sierra-Finch (about 60%), Golden-billed Saltator (about 50%) and Gray-bellied Flowerpiercer (about 50%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Band-tailed Sierra-Finch is recorded against all the birds logged in La Paz (8 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
