About Sphenopsis melanotis (P.L.Sclater, 1855)
The black-eared hemispingus, with the scientific name Sphenopsis melanotis, is a bird species that belongs to the family Thraupidae. It inhabits humid highland forest located in the Andes, ranging from western Venezuela all the way south to western Bolivia. This species is made up of several distinct subspecies. Two of these subspecies are sometimes recognized as full separate species: the western hemispingus, Sphenopsis ochraceus, which occurs on the west Andean slope in southwestern Colombia and northwestern Ecuador, and the Piura hemispingus, Sphenopsis piurae, which occurs on the west Andean slope in southwestern Ecuador and northwestern Peru.
