Grosbeak

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Grosbeak is the name given to 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

The finch family (Fringillidae) contains 13 living species named "grosbeak":

Typical grosbeak finches
* The two Nearctic and one Palearctic species in the genus "Coccothraustes":
** Evening Grosbeak, "C. vespertinus"
** Hooded Grosbeak, "C. abeillei"
** European Grosbeak or 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 South 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 pan-Holarctic pine forest speciesGrosbeak goldfinches
* The three golden-winged grosbeaks in the genmus "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"
** 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, and the Kona Grosbeak or Grosbeak Finch ("Chloridops kona"), a Hawaiian honeycreeper, last recorded in 1896.

Cardinal-grosbeaks

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

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 MexicoBlue 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"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"

Grosbeak tanagers?

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. groseus"
** 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

* The Burgess Bird Book for Children [http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=burgess&book=bird&story=red&PHPSESSID]
* RoseBreasted Grosbeak [http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/Infocenter/i5950id.html]
* All About Birds [http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Evening_Grosbeak.html]
* Birds -Everything About Grosbeaks [http://birding.about.com/od/birdsgrosbeaks/Birds_Everything_About_Grosbeaks.htm]