The hooded siskin (Spinus magellanicus) is a small passerine bird in the family Fringillidae, the finches and euphonias. It is found in every mainland South American country except French Guiana and Suriname.
Taxonomy and systematics
The hooded siskin has a complicated taxonomic history and as of early 2026 its taxonomy has not been fully resolved. It was originally described in 1805 with the binomial Fringilla magellanica. It was later moved to what was then the subgenus Spinus within genus Carduelis and also spent time in genus Sporagra. Beginning in about 2009 the subgenus was elevated to full genus level and the hooded siskin, the rest of the New World siskins, and the New World goldfinches were therefore elevated to now-genus Spinus.
The IOC, AviList, and BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World assign it these 12 subspecies.
S. m. capitalis (Cabanis, 1866)
S. m. paulus Todd, 1926
S. m. peruanus Berlepsch & Stolzmann, 1896
S. m. urubambensis Todd, 1926
S. m. santaecrucis Todd, 1926
S. m. bolivianus (Sharpe, 1888)
S. m. hoyi (König, C, 1981)
S. m. tucumanus Todd, 1926
S. m. alleni Ridgway, 1899
S. m. ictericus (Lichtenstein, MHC, 1823)
S. m. magellanicus (Vieillot, 1805)
S. m. longirostris (Sharpe, 1888)
The status of some subspecies is not resolved. During much of the twentieth century several authors treated S. m. santaecrucis as a full species but since late in that century it has generally been accepted in its subspecific position. A 2020 publication suggested that the hooded siskin is paraphyletic, consisting of at least two species.
As of its 2025 update, the Clements taxonomy does not recognize S. m. hoyi, apparently including it within S. m. tucumanus. Clements recognizes some distinctions among the subspecies of the hooded siskin. It calls S. m. longirostris the "hooded siskin (Guianan)" and groups S. m. alleni, S. m. ictericus, and S. m. magellanicus as the "hooded siskin (lowland)". It treats the other subspecies as the...
