The yellow grosbeak (''Pheucticus chrysopeplus''), also known as the Mexican yellow grosbeak, is a medium-sized

seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...

-eating

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

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 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 ...

from central Sonora to northwestern

Oaxaca Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of Mexico. It is ...

, and in southern Chiapas and Guatemala. In Sonora, it is migratory. It has been considered conspecific with '' P. tibialis'' of

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

and '' P. chrysogaster'' of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

. It occurs mostly in trees in forest, woodland, and edge, but is generally not found in dense

rain Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water ...

or cloud forests. Occasional vagrants have reached the United States, mostly in summer in

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, but it has also been reported in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...

, and even

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

. It is considerably bigger than its North American congeners, the

black-headed grosbeak The black-headed grosbeak (''Pheucticus melanocephalus'') is a medium-sized, seed-eating bird in the family Cardinalidae. It is sometimes considered conspecific with the rose-breasted grosbeak (''P. ludovicianus'') with which it hybridizes on ...

and the

rose-breasted grosbeak The rose-breasted grosbeak (''Pheucticus ludovicianus''), 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, ...

, being about long and weighing on average . The head is "massive", 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 tanager The flame-colored tanager (''Piranga bidentata''), formerly known as the stripe-backed tanager, is a medium-sized American songbird in the family Cardinalidae, the cardinals or cardinal grosbeaks. It is found from Mexico throughout Central Am ...

s, but much bigger, especially as to the bill. Immatures resemble females overall. Typical calls are a metallic ' or ' (Howell and Webb) or ' resembling other ''Pheucticus'' grosbeaks' calls, and a soft ' or ' (Howell and Webb 1995) or ' (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 A bird nest is the spot in which a bird lays and incubates its eggs and raises its young. Although the term popularly refers to a specific structure made by the bird itself—such as the grassy cup nest of the American robin or Eurasian bla ...

is built at medium height in a bush or small tree.

References

External links

Yellow grosbeak ''Pheucticus chrysopeplus'' from eNature.com
with photograph of adult male

photographs by E.J. Peiker, immature or female

* ttp://www.bird-stamps.org/cspecies/20302500.htm Stamps(for

) {{Taxonbar, from=Q648197 Pheucticus Birds of Mexico Native birds of the Southwestern United States Birds of Guatemala Birds described in 1832 Birds of the Sierra Madre Occidental