Yellow grosbeak | |
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Adult male at Burgers Zoo | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Cardinalidae |
Genus: | Pheucticus |
Species: | P. chrysopeplus |
Binomial name | |
Pheucticus chrysopeplus (Vigors, 1832) | |
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Breeding Year-round |
The yellow grosbeak (Pheucticus chrysopeplus), also known as the Mexican yellow grosbeak, is a medium-sized seed-eating bird in the same family as the northern cardinal, "tropical" or "New World" buntings, and "cardinal-grosbeaks" or New World grosbeaks.
The yellow grosbeak occurs on the Pacific slope of Mexico from central Sonora to northwestern Oaxaca, and in southern Chiapas and Guatemala. In Sonora, it is migratory. It has been considered conspecific with P. tibialis of Central America and P. chrysogaster of South America. It occurs mostly in trees in forest, woodland, and edge, but is generally not found in dense rain or cloud forests. Occasional vagrants have reached the United States, mostly in summer in Arizona, but it has also been reported in California, Colorado, New Mexico, and even Iowa.
It is considerably bigger than its North American congeners, the black-headed grosbeak and the rose-breasted grosbeak, being about 21.5–24 cm (8.5–9.4 in) long and weighing on average 62 g (2.2 oz). The head is "massive", [2] and the gray-black bill is even bigger in proportion to the head than those of its northern relatives.
The plumage has bold contrasts of yellow, white, and black or gray. Males' head and underparts are solid yellow—light lemon in most populations, "brilliant golden-orange" (Howell and Webb 1995) in P. c. aurantiacus of Chiapas and Guatemala. The back is black with yellow mottlings, the rump is yellow, and the upper tail coverts are black with white tips. The wings and tail are black with conspicuous white spots, patches, and wingbars. Females are similar but the upperparts are more olive, with dark streaks on the crown and back. Black is replaced by gray, and the white markings on the wings, especially the white base of the primaries, are smaller. Females are very similar in pattern to female flame-colored tanagers, but much bigger, especially as to the bill. Immatures resemble females overall.
Typical calls are a metallic iehk or plihk [3] (Howell and Webb) or piik [2] resembling other Pheucticus grosbeaks' calls, and a soft whoi or hu-oi (Howell and Webb 1995) or hoee (Sibley 2000) often given in flight. The song is a variable, rich-toned warble resembling that of the black-headed grosbeak, but shorter.
As is typical of the genus, it lays two to five pale bluish to greenish eggs with heavy brown and gray speckling. The cup nest is built at medium height in a bush or small tree.
Cardinalidae is a family of New World-endemic passerine birds that consists of cardinals, grosbeaks, and buntings. It also includes several birds such as the tanager-like Piranga and the warbler-like Granatellus. As such, membership of this group is not easily defined by a single or even a set of physical characteristics, but instead by molecular work. In general they are medium to large songbirds with stout features, some with large heavy bills.
The rose-breasted grosbeak, colloquially called "cut-throat" due to its coloration, is a large, seed-eating grosbeak in the cardinal family (Cardinalidae). It is primarily a foliage gleaner. Males have black heads, wings, backs, and tails, and a bright rose colored patch on their white breast. Males and females exhibit marked sexual dimorphism.
Heermann's gull is a gull resident in the United States, Mexico and extreme southwestern British Columbia, nearly all nesting on Isla Rasa in the Gulf of California. They are usually found near shores or well out to sea, very rarely inland. The species is named after Adolphus Lewis Heermann, nineteenth-century explorer and naturalist.
The laughing falcon, also called the snake hawk, is a medium-sized bird of prey in the falcon family (Falconidae), the only member of the genus Herpetotheres. This Neotropical species is a specialist snake-eater. Its common and scientific names both refer to its distinctive voice.
Grosbeak is a form taxon containing various species of seed-eating passerine birds with large beaks. Although they all belong to the superfamily Passeroidea, these birds are not part of a natural group but rather a polyphyletic assemblage of distantly related songbirds. Some are cardueline finches in the family Fringillidae, while others are cardinals in the family Cardinalidae; one is a member of the weaver family Ploceidae. The word "grosbeak", first applied in the late 1670s, is a partial translation of the French grosbec, where gros means "large" and bec means "beak".
The lesser goldfinch is a very small songbird of the Americas. Together with its relatives the American goldfinch and Lawrence's goldfinch, it forms the American goldfinches clade in the genus Spinussensu stricto.
The black-headed grosbeak is a medium-sized, seed-eating bird in the family Cardinalidae. It is sometimes considered conspecific with the rose-breasted grosbeak with which it hybridizes on the American Great Plains.
The crimson-collared grosbeak is a medium-size seed- and leaf-eating bird in the same family as the northern cardinal, Cardinalidae.
The black-thighed grosbeak is a large seed-eating bird in the cardinal family, which is endemic to the mountains of Costa Rica and western Panama.
The black-backed grosbeak is a bird in the family Cardinalidae, the cardinals or cardinal grosbeaks. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, and Venezuela. They are often kept as cagebirds.
The yellow-headed amazon, also known as the yellow-headed parrot and double yellow-headed amazon, is an endangered amazon parrot of Mexico and northern Central America. Measuring 38–43 centimetres (15–17 in) in length, it is a stocky short-tailed green parrot with a yellow head. It prefers to live in mangrove forests or forests near rivers or other bodies of water. It is sometimes considered a subspecies of the yellow-crowned amazon. It is a popular pet and an excellent talker. Poaching for the international pet trade has driven the species to near-extinction in the wild; around half of all wild-caught birds are thought to die in the process.
The hepatic tanager is a medium-sized American songbird. Formerly placed in the tanager family (Thraupidae), it and other members of the genus Piranga are now classified in the cardinal family (Cardinalidae). The species's plumage and vocalizations are similar to other members of the cardinal family.
The black-throated magpie-jay is a strikingly long-tailed magpie-jay of northwestern Mexico.
The golden grosbeak, also known as golden-bellied grosbeak or southern yellow grosbeak, is a species of grosbeak in the family Cardinalidae. It is similar to, and has sometimes been considered conspecific with, the yellow grosbeak.
The grey-throated chat is a species of bird in the family Cardinalidae, the cardinals or cardinal grosbeaks. It is found in Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico.
The red-breasted chat is a species of bird in the family Cardinalidae, the cardinals or cardinal grosbeaks. It is endemic to Mexico.
The rufous-backed thrush is a songbird of the thrush family. It is endemic to the Pacific slope of Mexico. It is also known as the rufous-backed robin.