Grosbeak

Grosbeak ( /ˈɡroʊsbiːk/) is a form taxon containing several species of seed-eating passerine birds with large beaks. Although they all belong to the superfamily Passeroidea, they are not a natural group but rather a polyphyletic assemblage of distantly related songbirds.

The following is a list of grosbeak species, arranged in groups of closely related genera. Note that these genera are more closely related to smaller-billed birds than to other grosbeaks. The single exception are the three genera of "typical grosbeak finches", which indeed form a group of closest living relatives and might thus be considered the "true" grosbeaks.

Grosbeak finches

Female Evening Grosbeak (Coccothraustes vespertinus) in winter

Pine Grosbeak, Pinicola enucleator

The finch family (Fringillidae) contains 13 living species named "grosbeak", which are all part of the large subfamily Carduelinae:

Typical grosbeak finches

• The two Nearctic and one Palearctic species in the genus Coccothraustes:
  • Evening Grosbeak, C. vespertinus
  • Hooded Grosbeak, C. abeillei
  • Hawfinch, C. coccothraustes
• The two species in the East Asian genus Eophona:
  • Japanese Grosbeak, E. personata
  • Chinese Grosbeak or Yellow-billed Grosbeak, E. migratoria
• The four species in the Southeast Asian genus Mycerobas:
  • Black-and-yellow Grosbeak, M. icterioides
  • Collared Grosbeak, M. affinis
  • Spot-winged Grosbeak, M. melanozanthos
  • White-winged Grosbeak, M. carnipes

Grosbeak bullfinch

• The Pine Grosbeak, Pinicola enucleator, a Holarctic pine forest species

Grosbeak goldfinches

• The three golden-winged grosbeaks in the genus Rhynchostruthus, found in northern Somalia, mountains of south-west Arabia and on the island of Socotra and often considered a single species:
  • Somali Grosbeak, R. louisae
  • Arabian Grosbeak, R. percivali
    

    

    Kona Grosbeak (Chloridops kona)
  • Socotra Grosbeak, R. socotranus

Affiliations unknown

• The São Tomé Grosbeak, Neospiza concolor, a critically endangered restricted-range endemic found only in forests on the island of São Tomé off the West African coast, believed extinct until rediscovered in 1996

Two species in the genus Serinus are named "Grosbeak-canaries": the Abyssinian Grosbeak-canary (Serinus donaldsoni) and the Southern Grosbeak-canary or Kenya Grosbeak-canary (Serinus buchanani). The genus Serinus is somewhat closely related to the golden-winged grosbeaks.

In addition, there are two extinct Fringillidae "grosbeaks":

• The Bonin Grosbeak (Chaunoproctus ferreorostris), found only on the Ogasawara Islands, which was last recorded in 1832. Its relationshps are obscure, but it was probably another member of the cardueline finches.
• The Kona Grosbeak or Grosbeak Finch (Chloridops kona), last recorded in 1896. It was a Hawaiian honeycreeper, subfamily Drepanidinae.

Cardinal-grosbeaks

The cardinal family (Cardinalidae) of the Americas contains the following 17 "grosbeaks":

Black-headed Grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus)

Typical cardinal-grosbeaks

• The six species in the genus Pheucticus
  • Yellow Grosbeak, P. chrysopeplus
  • Golden-bellied Grosbeak, P. chrysogaster
  • Black-thighed Grosbeak, P. tibialis, a restricted-range endemic found only in the highlands of Costa Rica and Panama
  • Black-backed Grosbeak, P. aureoventris
  • Rose-breasted Grosbeak, P. ludovicianus
  • Black-headed Grosbeak, P. melanocephalus

Masked cardinal-grosbeaks

• The Red-and-black Grosbeak, Periporphyrus erythromelas of northern South America
• The two species in the Neotropical genus Caryothraustes:
  • Black-faced Grosbeak, C. poliogaster
  • Yellow-green Grosbeak, C. canadensis
• The Crimson-collared Grosbeak, Rhodothraupis celaeno, a restricted-range endemic found only in eastern Mexico

Ultramarine Grosbeak (Cyanocompsa brissonii)

Blue cardinal-grosbeaks

• Two species in the Neotropical genus Cyanocompsa which also contains the Blue Bunting (C. parellina):
  • Ultramarine Grosbeak, C. brissonii
  • Blue-black Grosbeak, C. cyanoides
• The Glaucous-blue Grosbeak (Cyanoloxia glaucocaerulea) of eastern South America
• One species (sometimes separated in Guiraca) in the genus Passerina, which also contains the North American buntings:
  • Blue Grosbeak, Passerina caerulea

Grosbeak tanagers?

Slate-coloured Grosbeak (Saltator grossus)

Three additional species of "grosbeaks" have long been placed in the Cardinalidae, but actually seem to be closer to the tanager family (Thraupidae):

• Two species in the Neotropical genus Saltator, which also contains the saltators:
  • Slate-coloured Grosbeak, S. grossus
  • Black-throated Grosbeak, S. fuliginosus
• The Yellow-shouldered Grosbeak, Parkerthraustes humeralis of South America

Grosbeak Weaver

Finally, the weaver family (Ploceidae) contains a species called the Grosbeak Weaver (Amblyospiza albifrons).

External links

• Thornton W. Burgess. "The Burgess Bird Book for Children: More Folks in Red". mainlesson.com. http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=burgess&book=bird&story=red. 
• "Rose-breasted grosbeak". mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov. http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/Infocenter/i5950id.html. 
• "All About Birds: Evening grosbeak". allaboutbirds.org. http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Evening_Grosbeak/id. 
• "Articles about ‘grosbeaks’". birding.about.com. http://birding.about.com/lr/grosbeaks/1473008/2/. 
•  "Grosbeak". Encyclopedia Americana. 1920.