The golden grosbeak (''Pheucticus chrysogaster''), also known as golden-bellied grosbeak or southern yellow grosbeak, is a species of

grosbeak 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 dist ...

in the family

Cardinalidae Cardinalidae (often referred to as the "cardinal-grosbeaks" or simply the "cardinals") 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 ...

. It is similar to, and has sometimes been considered

conspecific Biological specificity is the tendency of a characteristic such as a behavior or a biochemical variation to occur in a particular species. Biochemist Linus Pauling stated that "Biological specificity is the set of characteristics of living organ ...

with, the yellow grosbeak. The golden grosbeak is found in

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

, and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s are subtropical or tropical dry

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s, subtropical or tropical moist

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

s, subtropical or tropical dry

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It m ...

, and heavily degraded former forest.

Taxonomy

The golden grosbeak belongs to the taxonomic family

. Other members of this family include

cardinals Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

buntings The buntings are a group of Old World passerine birds forming the genus ''Emberiza'', the only genus in the family Emberizidae. The family contains 45 species. They are seed-eating birds with stubby, conical bills. Taxonomy The family Emberizi ...

, and other

s. Its genus, '' Pheuticus'' (meaning "shy" in Greek), contains six extant species. The golden grosbeak (''P. chrysogaster'') used to be considered a member of the same species as the black-thighed grosbeak (''P. tibialis'') and yellow grosbeak (''P. chrysopeplus''); collectively, they went under the name yellow grosbeak (''P. chrysopeplus''). Southern yellow grosbeak was the common name given to the subspecies of yellow grosbeak found in the South American Andes of Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, and Columbia, now recognized as the separate species golden grosbeak. Recent phylogenetics supports the separation of these three species and suggests that the golden grosbeak is more closely related to the

black-backed grosbeak The black-backed grosbeak (''Pheucticus aureoventris'') 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 ...

(''P. aureiventris'') than to the black-thighed or yellow. ''Pheucticus chrysogaster'' goes by several different English names: southern yellow grosbeak, golden-bellied grosbeak, or golden grosbeak. The multiplicity of names traces in part to the above history of taxonomic

splitting Splitting may refer to: * Splitting (psychology) * Lumpers and splitters, in classification or taxonomy * Wood splitting * Tongue splitting * Splitting, railway operation Mathematics * Heegaard splitting * Splitting field * Splitting principle * ...

. Golden grosbeak is now favored over the other names by the major taxonomic authorities, as reflected in frequently updated and popular websites like eBird.org and Neotropicalbirds.org.

Description

The body averages in length. The bill is large and conical in shape, typical of most species in the family. The golden grosbeak is

sexually dimorphic Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

in plumage. Males are bright yellow with a black wing and back. They have white spots on their median and greater wing-coverts that wear over time, and older birds appear darker. The females have brown wings and brown streaks covering the head, flanks, back and rump. The immature of this species look similar to the female in plumage and is often not distinguishable in the field.

Behavior and ecology

This species is found up to 3000 meters in elevation in a large diversity of habitats, occurring in semi-open habitats, edges of the forest, and shrub. Primarily arboreal, the birds that are often found alone or in pairs. The song is described as fast caroling that is a “rich melody, liquid and full”. Each individual has a large repertoire of songs. The call is a metallic ‘pink’.

Conservation status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

considers the golden grosbeak a species of

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

. This classification reflects the species' large range and stable population size (<30% decline over ten years or three generations).

Gallery

Image:Golden-bellied Grosbeak RWD.jpg Image: Golden Grosbeak.jpg Image: Golden Grosbeak 2.jpg

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3285221 Pheucticus Birds of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta Birds of the Venezuelan Coastal Range Birds of Ecuador Birds of the Peruvian Andes Birds described in 1832 Taxa named by René Lesson Taxonomy articles created by Polbot