Fringillidae

Brambling Fringilla montifringilla, photographed by Mark Gurney.

Belongs within: Passerida.
Contains: Carduelinae, Euphonia.

The Fringillidae, finches, are a family of mostly granivorous birds found in Eurasia, Africa and the Americas. Though often brownish or greenish in their base coloration, many fringillid finches are colorfully marked. Some tropical fringillids, the Neotropical genera Euphonia and Chlorophonia, and the Hawaiian honeycreepers of the Drepanidini, include particularly colorful species that have become frugivorous or nectarivorous rather than granivorous. Chlorophonia is a genus of mostly green birds with yellow underparts (Hilty 2011). The chaffinches of the genus Fringilla, found in Eurasia and northern Africa, differ from the cardueline finches in their relatively short upper bills and lack of a crop; they also feed nestlings on insects rather than seeds.

<==Fringillidae [Fringilladae]
    |--+--Carduelinae JT12
    |  `--+--Euphonia JT12
    |     `--Chlorophonia Bonaparte 1851 BKB15, H11
    |          |--C. callophrys (Cabanis 1861) [=Triglyphidia callophrys] H11
    |          |--C. cyanea (Thunberg 1822) [=Pipra cyanea] H11
    |          |    |--C. c. cyanea H11
    |          |    |--C. c. frontalis (Sclater 1851) H11
    |          |    |--C. c. intensa Zimmer 1943 H11
    |          |    |--C. c. longipennis (du Bus de Gisignies 1855) H11
    |          |    |--C. c. minuscula Hellmayr 1922 H11
    |          |    |--C. c. psittacina Bangs 1902 H11
    |          |    `--C. c. roraimae Salvin & Godman 1884 H11
    |          |--C. flavirostris Sclater 1861 [incl. C. flavirostris boehmi, C. flavirostris minima] H11
    |          |--C. occipitalis (du Bus de Gisignies 1847) [=Euphonia occipitalis] H11
    |          `--C. pyrrhophrys (Sclater 1851) [=Euphonia pyrrhophrys] H11
    `--+--Carpospiza brachydactyla BKB15
       `--Fringilla Linnaeus 1758 JT12, CC10 [Fringillinae, Fringillini]
            |  i. s.: F. amandava Linnaeus 1758 L58
            |         F. angolensis Linnaeus 1758 L58
            |         F. brasiliana Linnaeus 1758 L58
            |         F. butyracea Linnaeus 1758 L58
            |         F. chinensis Linnaeus 1758 L58
            |         F. lutensis Linnaeus 1758 L58
            |         F. melancholica Linnaeus 1758 L58
            |         F. melba Linnaeus 1758 L58
            |         F. sylvatica Linnaeus 1758 L58
            |         F. tristis Linnaeus 1758 L58
            |         F. trochanteria Giebel 1847 M02
            |--F. montifringilla Linnaeus 1758 JT12, CC10
            `--+--*F. coelebs Linnaeus 1758 CC10, JT12, CC10 [=F. caelebs (l. c.) CC10]
               |    |--F. c. coelebs CC10
               |    `--F. c. gengleri Kleinschmidt 1909 CC10
               `--F. teydea JT12

Fringillidae incertae sedis:
  Chaunoproctus ferreorostris (Vigors 1829) WBSJ82, I92
  Coturniculus peruanus SS66
  Rhynchostruthus JT12
    |--R. louisae JT12
    |--R. percivali JT12
    `--R. socotranus JT12
  Neospiza concolor JT12
  Callacanthis burtoni JT12
  Zamelodia ludoviciana S18
  Astragalinus psaltria S18
    |--A. p. psaltria S18
    `--A. p. croceus S18

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[BKB15] Burleigh, J. G., R. T. Kimball & E. L. Braun. 2015. Building the avian tree of life using a large-scale, sparse supermatrix. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 84: 53–63.

[CC10] Checklist Committee (OSNZ). 2010. Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand, Norfolk and Macquarie Islands, and the Ross Dependency, Antarctica 4^th ed. Ornithological Society of New Zealand and Te Papa Press: Wellington.

[H11] Hilty, S. L. 2011. Family Thraupidae (tanagers). In: Hoyo, J. del, A. Elliott & D. A. Christie (eds) Handbook of the Birds of the World vol. 16. Tanagers to New World Blackbirds pp. 46–329. Lynx Edicions: Barcelona.

[I92] Iwahashi, J. (ed.) 1992. Reddo Deeta Animaruzu: a pictorial of Japanese fauna facing extinction. JICC: Tokyo.

[JT12] Jetz, W., G. H. Thomas, J. B. Joy, K. Hartmann & A. Ø. Mooers. 2012. The global diversity of birds in space and time. Nature 491: 444–448.

[L58] Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. Laurentii Salvii: Holmiae.

[M02] Mlíkovský, J. 2002. Cenozoic Birds of the World. Part 1: Europe. Ninox Press: Praha.

[SS66] Sclater, P. L., & O. Salvin. 1866. Catalogue of birds collected by Mr. E. Bartlett on the River Uyacali, Eastern Peru, with notes and descriptions of new species. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 175–201.

[S18] Stone, W. 1918. Birds of the Panama Canal Zone, with special reference to a collection made by Mr. Lindsey L. Jewel. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 70: 239–280.

[WBSJ82] Wild Bird Society of Japan. 1982. A Field Guide to the Birds of Japan. Kodansha International Ltd.: Tokyo.

Last updated: 7 July 2019.