The evening grosbeak (''Hesperiphona vespertina'') is a

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by t ...

bird in the

finch The true finches are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. Finches have stout conical bills adapted for eating seeds and nuts and often have colourful plumage. They occupy a great range of habitats where they are usua ...

family Fringillidae found in North America.

Taxonomy

The IOC checklist and the ''

Handbook of the Birds of the World The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. T ...

'' place the evening grosbeak and the closely related

hooded grosbeak The hooded grosbeak (''Hesperiphona abeillei'') is a passerine bird in the finch family found in the highlands of Central America, principally in Mexico and Guatemala. This is a medium large grosbeak with a large bill. The male has a black head ...

in the genus ''

Hesperiphona ''Hesperiphona'' is a genus in the finch family Fringillidae. The genus was introduced in 1850 by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte with the evening grosbeak as the type species. The name combines the Ancient Greek ''hesperos'' meani ...

''. However, the

Clements Checklist ''The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World'' is a book by Jim Clements which presents a list of the bird species of the world. The most recent printed version is the sixth edition (2007), but has been updated yearly, the last version in 202 ...

and the AOS checklist place the evening and hooded grosbeaks in the genus ''Coccothraustes'' with the

hawfinch The hawfinch (''Coccothraustes coccothraustes'') is a passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It is the only species placed in the genus ''Coccothraustes''. Its closest living relatives are the Chinese grosbeak (''Eophona migratoria'') ...

. The genus ''Hesperiphona'' was introduced by

Charles Lucien Bonaparte Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte, 2nd Prince of Canino and Musignano (24 May 1803 – 29 July 1857), was a French naturalist and ornithologist. Lucien and his wife had twelve children, including Cardinal Lucien Bonaparte. Life and career ...

in 1850. The name is from

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

''hesperos'', "evening", and ''phone'' "cry", and the specific ''vespertina'' is

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

for "evening".

Description

The evening grosbeak is similar in appearance to the Eurasian

, both being bulky, heavily built finches with large bills and short tails. The evening grosbeak ranges in length from and spans across the wings. In a large sampling of grosbeaks in Pennsylvania during winter, males weighed from , with an average of , while females weighed from , with an average of . Among standard measurements, the wing chord is , the tail is , the bill is and the tarsus is . The adult has a short black tail, black wings and a large pale bill. The adult male has a bright yellow forehead and body; its head is brown and there is a large white patch in the wing. The adult female is mainly olive-brown, greyer on the underparts and with white patches in the wings.

Breeding and ecology

The breeding habitat is

conifer Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single ...

ous and mixed forest across

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and the western mountainous areas of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. It is an extremely rare vagrant to the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

, with just two records so far. The nest is built on a horizontal branch or in a fork of a tree. The

migration Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

of this bird is variable; in some winters, it may wander as far south as the southern U.S. These birds forage in trees and bushes, sometimes on the ground. They mainly eat seeds, berries, and insects. Outside of the

nesting season The nesting season is the time of year during which birds and some other animals, particularly some reptiles, build nests, lay eggs in them, and in most cases bring up their young. It is usually in the spring. Bird conservation Bird conservati ...

they often feed in flocks. Sometimes, they will swallow fine gravel. The range of this bird has expanded far to the east in historical times, possibly due to plantings of

Manitoba maple ''Acer negundo'', the box elder, boxelder maple, Manitoba maple or ash-leaved maple, is a species of maple native to North America. It is a fast-growing, short-lived tree with opposite, compound leaves. It is sometimes considered a weedy or inva ...

s and other maples and shrubs around farms and the availability of bird feeders in winter.

Gallery

File:Coccothraustes-vespertinus-001.jpg, Female evening grosbeak in

Algonquin Provincial Park Algonquin Provincial Park is a provincial park located between Georgian Bay and the Ottawa River in Ontario, Canada, mostly within the Unorganized South Part of Nipissing District. Established in 1893, it is the oldest provincial park in Cana ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada File:Evening Grosbeak Male.jpg, Male evening grosbeak in

Truchas, New Mexico Truchas is a census-designated place in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, United States. Located along the scenic High Road to Taos, it is halfway between Santa Fe in the south, and Taos to the north. Truchas has the ZIP code 87578. The 87578 ZIP ...

File:Evening Grosbeak 3.jpg, Female in winter,

Gatineau Park Gatineau Park (french: Parc de la Gatineau) is a federal park located in the Outaouais, Outaouais region of Quebec, Canada. Administered by the National Capital Commission as part of the National Capital Region (Canada), National Capital Region, ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada File:Evening Grosbeak Lady Slipper Trail Angel Fire NM 2019-07-15 12-28-00 (48294389096).jpg, Group in

Carson National Forest Carson National Forest is a national forest in northern New Mexico, United States. It encompasses 6,070 square kilometers (1.5 million acres) and is administered by the United States Forest Service. The Forest Service's "mixed use" policy allows ...

, New Mexico File:Hesperiphona vespertina CT2.ogv, Feeding on

sunflower seed The sunflower seed is the seed of the sunflower ('' Helianthus annuus''). There are three types of commonly used sunflower seeds: linoleic (most common), high oleic, and sunflower oil seeds. Each variety has its own unique levels of monounsat ...

References

External links

Evening Grosbeak - ''Coccothraustes vespertinus''
- USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter * * * * * * * * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q25167830

evening grosbeak The evening grosbeak (''Hesperiphona vespertina'') is a passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae found in North America. Taxonomy The IOC checklist and the '' Handbook of the Birds of the World'' place the evening grosbeak and the clos ...

Birds of North America Birds of Canada Native birds of the Western United States Birds of Mexico Birds of Saint Pierre and Miquelon

Articles containing video clips Extant Pleistocene first appearances Birds of the Sierra Madre Occidental