It belongs to the putative clade of neotropical siskins in the genus Spinus sensu lato.

There are 11 subspecies, including the Santa Cruz hooded siskin (S. m. santaecrucis) of central and eastern Bolivia.

Females are duller with a green-brown head, yellow-green breast and sides and a whitish belly.

In the Andean region, it occurs from northwestern Argentina and northern Chile north to central Colombia.

[2] The hooded siskin is part of a recent and rapid adaptive radiation of Spinus finches in South America.