Systematics

No recognized subspecies (Dickerman et al. 1967, Oliveras de Ita et al. 2012).

Recent conservation genetics work on Sierra Madre Sparrow revealed an absence of significant phylogeographic structure within the species based on mtDNA analyses. Sharing of haplotypes between the populations in central and northwestern Mexico suggests recent fragmentation of a formerly contiguous population. Marked differences in haplotype frequencies among populations, however, suggest restricted gene flow and limited dispersal (Oliveras de Ita et al. 2012).

Described as Xenospiza baileyi Bangs 1931; type locality Bolaños, Jalisco, Mexico.

The first specimens of Sierra Madre Sparrow collected by W.B. Richardson in northern Jalisco in 1889 were misidentified as either Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) or Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis). With additional specimens, however, it was recognized as a new species and classified in a new, monotypic genus (Bangs 1931). The relationships of Xenospiza long have been debated, with some authorities suggesting a relationship to the Ammodramus complex (e.g. Dickerman et al. 1967, Paynter 1970), or perhaps to Melospiza (history summarized by Oliveras de Ita and Rojas-Sota 2006). Phylogenetic analyses of DNA sequence data, from both mitochondrial and nuclear genes, identifies Melospiza and Xenospiza as sister taxa, although both are embedded within the so-called "grassland sparrow"assemblage (Klicka and Spellman 2007, Barker et al. 2013).