Evening Grosbeak
Coccothraustes vespertinus
Large finch, nearly twice the size of a goldfinch. Stocky with strong, thick, pale bill and short, notched tail. Males are stunning with dark head fading to bright yellow underparts, and mostly black wings with bright white secondaries. Females are overall gray with some white on the wing. Flocks often come to feeders for sunflower seeds. Found in forested regions especially at higher elevations. Populations declining dramatically.
Identification
The evening grosbeak is similar in appearance to the Eurasian hawfinch, both being bulky, heavily built finches with large bills and short tails. The evening grosbeak ranges in length from 16 to 22 cm (6.3 to 8.7 in) and spans 30 to 36 cm (12 to 14 in) across the wings. In a large sampling of grosbeaks in Pennsylvania during winter, males weighed from 38.7 to 86.1 g (1.37 to 3.04 oz), with an average of 60 g (2.1 oz), while females weighed from 43.2 to 73.5 g (1.52 to 2.59 oz), with an average of 58.7 g (2.07 oz). Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 10.45 to 11.6 cm (4.11 to 4.57 in), the tail is 6 to 6.95 cm (2.36 to 2.74 in), the bill is 1.6 to 2 cm (0.63 to 0.79 in) and the tarsus is 1.95 to 2.2 cm (0.77 to 0.87 in). 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. They also have a loud distinctive 'chew' call, similar to a glorified house sparrow.
Taxonomy
The evening grosbeak was formally described in 1825 by the American naturalist William Cooper and given the binomial name Fringilla vespertina. Cooper had been sent a specimen by the ethnologist Henry Schoolcraft that had been collected in the evening near Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Cooper recorded the name of the bird in the Ojibwe language as "Paushkundamo".<p>The IOC checklist and the Handbook of the Birds of the World place the evening grosbeak and the closely related hooded grosbeak in the genus Hesperiphona. However, the Clements Checklist and the AOS checklist place the evening and hooded grosbeaks in the genus Coccothraustes with the hawfinch.<p>The genus Hesperiphona was introduced by Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1850. The name is from Ancient Greek hesperos meaning "evening" and phōnē meaning "sound" or "cry". The specific epithet is from Latin vespertinus meaning "of evening", "of twilight" or "crepuscular".<p>Three subspecies are recognised:
- Scientific name
- Coccothraustes vespertinus
- Authority
- (Cooper, W, 1825)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Fringillidae
- Genus
- Coccothraustes
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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