Yellow-green Grosbeak
Caryothraustes canadensis
A well-named grosbeak that is olive-greenish above and brighter yellow below, with a distinctive black face and a stout bill with a silver base. Disjunct range stretches from eastern Panama to southeast Brazil. Occurs in the subcanopy of lowland forest, up to around 1,000 m. Typically found in small groups, sometimes as a part of a larger mixed-species flock. Often draws attention to itself with piercing buzzy and squeaky calls. Not likely confused, but compare with female Red-and-black Grosbeak, which has entirely black head.
Taxonomy
In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the yellow-green grosbeak in his Ornithologie based on a specimen collected in Cayenne in French Guiana. He used the French name Le Gros-bec de Cayenne and the Latin name Coccothraustes Cayanensis. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson. One of these was the yellow-green grosbeak. Linnaeus included a terse description, used the binomial name Loxia canadensis and cited Brisson's work. Linnaeus mistakenly claimed that the species occurred in Canada rather than Cayenne and introduced the specific name canadensis for Canada where the bird does not occur. This species is now placed in the genus Caryothraustes that was introduced by the German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach in 1850. There are four subspecies.
- Scientific name
- Caryothraustes canadensis
- Authority
- (Linnaeus, 1766)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Cardinalidae
- Genus
- Caryothraustes
Range and habitat
It is found in Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Suriname, and Venezuela.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and heavily degraded former forest.
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
LeConte's Thrasher
Toxostoma lecontei
The palest thrasher; entirely light tan with whiter throat. Undertail coverts peach colored. Bill dark and strongly curved; eye dark. Found in dry flat deserts with open ground, often seen running between patches of low bushes. Shy and difficult to see well. Song similar to other thrashers, often with doubled or tripled notes; tends to be rather slow.
Plains-wanderer
Pedionomus torquatus
Unique terrestrial bird, endemic to Australia, where found in sparse native grasslands in parts of central and southern Australia. Extremely secretive and elusive, this species is unlikely to be observed without deliberate search and professional help. Resembles a buttonquail but has a more upright posture and a hind-toe. Upperparts reddish-brown with fine black streaking, underparts white with black spots. Adult female has bright red patch on the neck, with a black-and-white collar above it.
Black-faced Monarch
Monarcha melanopsis
A slim songbird with rather long tail and substantial bill. Gray above, rufous below, with gray head, black forehead and throat. Juvenile lacks black in face. In all plumages, small white crescent in front of eye. Often perches horizontally, slightly raising tail. Inhabits wetter forested areas along eastern coast of Australia, where it forages slowly for insects in foliage.
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