Emberizidae
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 American Tree Sparrow
Spizella arborea |
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Over 70, see text |
The Emberizidae are a large family of passerine birds.
They are seed-eating birds with a distinctively shaped bill. In Europe, most species are named as buntings.
The Emberizidae family probably originated in South America and spread first into North America before crossing into eastern Asia and continuing to move west. This explains the comparative paucity of emberizid species in Europe and Africa when compared to the Americas.
In North America, most of the species in this family are known as (American) Sparrows, but these birds are not closely related to the Old World sparrows which are in the family Passeridae. The family also includes the North American birds known as juncos and towhees.
Their habits are similar to those of finches, with which they sometimes used to be grouped. Older sources may place some emberizids in the Fringillidae, and the common names of some emberizids still refer to them as finches. Many emberizid species have distinctive head patterns.
As with several other passerine families the taxonomic treatment of this family's members is currently in a state of flux. Many genera in South and Central America are in fact more closely related to several different tanager clades,[1][2][3] and at least one tanager genus (Chlorospingus) may belong here in the Emberizidae.[4]
Contents |
[edit] Systematics
[edit] The buntings
- Genus Melophus - Crested Bunting
- Genus Latoucheornis - Slaty Bunting
- Genus Emberiza - typical buntings (nearly 40 species)
- Genus Miliaria - Corn Bunting
[edit] The American sparrows, including juncos and towhees
Chlorospingus seems to belong here too.
- Genus Arremon (7 species)
- Genus Arremonops (4 species)
- Genus Melozone (3 species)
- Genus Pipilo - towhees (9 species)
- Genus Aimophila (14 species)
- Genus Oriturus (Striped Sparrow)
- Genus Torreornis (Zapata Sparrow)
- Genus Spizella (7 species)
- Genus Pooecetes (Vesper Sparrow)
- Genus Chondestes (Lark Sparrow)
- Genus Amphispiza (2 species)
- Genus Calamospiza (Lark Bunting)
- Genus Passerculus (1-2 species)
- Genus Ammodramus (9 species)
- Genus Passerella (Fox Sparrow - probably 4 species)
- Genus Xenospiza (Sierra Madre Sparrow)
- Genus Melospiza (3 species)
- Genus Zonotrichia (5 species)
- Genus Junco - juncos (4 species)
[edit] The brush-finches
- Genus Atlapetes
- White-naped Brush-finch, Atlapetes albinucha
- Pale-naped Brush-finch, Atlapetes pallidinucha
- Rufous-naped Brush-finch, Atlapetes rufinucha
- Yellow-breasted Brush-finch, Atlapetes latinuchus
- Yariguies Brush-finch, Atlapetes latinuchus yariguierum
- White-rimmed Brush-finch, Atlapetes leucopis
- Rufous-capped Brush-finch, Atlapetes pileatus
- Santa Marta Brush-finch, Atlapetes melanocephalus
- Olive-headed Brush-finch, Atlapetes flaviceps
- Dusky-headed Brush-finch, Atlapetes fuscoolivaceus
- Tricolored Brush-finch, Atlapetes tricolor
- Moustached Brush-finch, Atlapetes albofrenatus
- Slaty Brush-finch, Atlapetes schistaceus
- Bay-crowned Brush-finch, Atlapetes seebohmi
- Rusty-bellied Brush-finch, Atlapetes nationi
- White-winged Brush-finch, Atlapetes leucopterus
- White-headed Brush-finch, Atlapetes albiceps
- Pale-headed Brush-finch, Atlapetes pallidiceps
- Rufous-eared Brush-finch, Atlapetes rufigenis
- Black-spectacled Brush-finch, Atlapetes melanops
- Ochre-breasted Brush-finch, Atlapetes semirufus
- Fulvous-headed Brush-finch, Atlapetes fulviceps
- Tepui Brush-finch, Atlapetes personatus
- Yellow-striped Brush-finch, Atlapetes citrinellus
- Genus Buarremon (3-4 species)
- Genus Lysurus
- Sooty-faced Finch, Lysurus crassirostris
- Olive Finch, Lysurus castaneiceps
- Genus Pselliophorus
- Yellow-thighed Finch, Pselliophorus tibialis
- Yellow-green Finch, Pselliophorus luteoviridis
- Genus Pezopetes - Large-footed Finch
[edit] The longspurs and arctic buntings
- Genus Calcarius (4 species)[5]
- Genus Plectrophenax - Arctic buntings (2 species)
[edit] Genera belonging elsewhere
The rest of the traditional Emberizidae, listed below, are closer to various tanagers. For the largest part they are often known collectively as tanager-finches.
- Genus Acanthidops - Peg-billed Finch
- Genus Amaurospiza - blue seedeaters (4 species)
- Genus Camarhynchus - tree-finches (6 species)
- Genus Catamenia - atypical seedeaters (3 species)
- Genus Certhidea - Warbler Finch
- Genus Charitospiza - Coal-crested Finch
- Genus Coereba - Bananaquit
- Genus Coryphaspiza - Black-masked Finch
- Genus Coryphospingus (2 species)
- Genus Diglossa - typical flowerpiercers (14 species)
- Genus Diglossopis - blue flowerpiercers
- Genus Diuca - diuca-finches (2 species)
- Genus Dolospingus - White-naped Seedeater
- Genus Donacospiza - Long-tailed Reed-finch
- Genus Emberizoides - grass-finches (3 species)
- Genus Embernagra (2 species)
- Genus Euneornis - Orangequit
- Genus Geospiza - ground-finches (6 species)
- Genus Gubernatrix - Yellow Cardinal
- Genus Haplospiza (2 species)
- Genus Idiopsar - Short-tailed Finch
- Genus Incaspiza (5 species)
- Genus Lophospingus (2 species)
- Genus Loxigilla - Antillean bullfinches (4 species)
- Genus Loxipasser - Yellow-shouldered Grassquit
- Genus Melanodera (2 species)
- Genus Melanospiza - St. Lucia Black Finch
- Genus Melopyrrha - Cuban Bullfinch
- Genus Nesospiza - Tristan da Cunha finches (2 species)
- Genus Oryzoborus - seed-finches (6 species)
- Genus Paroaria - cardinal-tanagers (5 species)
- Genus Phrygilus - sierra-finches (11 species)
- Genus Piezorhina - Cinereous Finch
- Genus Pinaroloxias - Cocos Island Finch
- Genus Poospiza - warbling-finches (17 species)
- Genus Rhodospingus - Crimson-breasted Finch
- Genus Rowettia - Gough Finch
- Genus Saltatricula - Many-colored Chaco-finch
- Genus Sicalis - yellow-finches (12 species)
- Genus Sporophila - typical seedeaters (some 55 species)
- Genus Tiaris - typical grassquits (5 species)
- Genus Volatinia - Blue-black Grassquit
- Genus Xenospingus - Slender-billed Finch
[edit] References
- ^ Burns, K. J., S. J. Hackett, and N. K. Klein, 2002. Phylogenetic relationships and morphological diversity in Darwin's finches and their relatives. Evolution 56 (6). 1240-1252.
- ^ Lougheed, S.C., J.R. Freeland, P. Handford & P.T. Boag. 2000. A molecular phylogeny of warbling-finches (Poospiza): paraphyly in a Neotropical emberizid genus. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 17: 367-378.
- ^ Burns, K. J., S. J. Hackett, and N. K. Klein. 2003. Phylogenetic relationships of Neotropical honeycreepers and the evolution of feeding morphology. J. Avian Biology 34: 360-370.
- ^ Yuri, T., and D. P. Mindell. 2002. Molecular phylogenetic analysis of Fringillidae, "New World nine-primaried oscines" (Aves: Passeriformes). Mol. Phylogen. Evol. 23:229-243.
- ^ Klicka J, Zink RM, Winker K. 2003. Longspurs and snow buntings: phylogeny and biogeography of a high-latitude clade (Calcarius). Mol Phylogenet Evol. Feb;26(2):165-75.
[edit] External links
- Emberizidae videos on the Internet Bird Collection
- Emberizidae sounds on xeno-canto.org
