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Emberizidae
 
 
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The Emberizidae are a large family of passerine
Passerine

A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders:...
 bird
Bird

Birds are wing, Bipedalismal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay egg . There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates....
s.

They are seed-eating bird
Bird

Birds are wing, Bipedalismal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay egg . There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates....
s with a distinctively shaped bill. In Europe, most species are named as buntings
Bunting (bird)

Buntings are a group of eurasian and african passerine birds of the Family Emberizidae.They are seed-eating birds with stubby, conical bills, and are the Old World equivalents of the species known in North America as American sparrow....
.

The Emberizidae family probably originated in South America
South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
 and spread first into North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
 before crossing into eastern Asia
Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
 and continuing to move west. This explains the comparative paucity of emberizid species in Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
 and Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
 when compared to the Americas
Americas

The Americas are the region of the Western hemisphere that consists of the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions....
.

In North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
, 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.






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The Emberizidae are a large family of passerine
Passerine

A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders:...
 bird
Bird

Birds are wing, Bipedalismal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay egg . There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates....
s.

They are seed-eating bird
Bird

Birds are wing, Bipedalismal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay egg . There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates....
s with a distinctively shaped bill. In Europe, most species are named as buntings
Bunting (bird)

Buntings are a group of eurasian and african passerine birds of the Family Emberizidae.They are seed-eating birds with stubby, conical bills, and are the Old World equivalents of the species known in North America as American sparrow....
.

The Emberizidae family probably originated in South America
South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
 and spread first into North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
 before crossing into eastern Asia
Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
 and continuing to move west. This explains the comparative paucity of emberizid species in Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
 and Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
 when compared to the Americas
Americas

The Americas are the region of the Western hemisphere that consists of the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions....
.

In North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
, 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 junco
Junco

The Juncos , genus Junco, are small American sparrows. Their systematics are still very confusing after decades of research, with various authors accepting between three and twelve species....
s and towhee
Towhee

A Towhee is any one of a number of species of birds in the genus Pipilo within the family Emberizidae .Towhees typically have longer tails than other emberizids....
s.

As with several other passerine
Passerine

A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders:...
 families the taxonomic treatment of this family's members is currently in a state of flux. Many genera
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 in South and Central America are in fact more closely related to several different tanager
Tanager

The tanagers are a family , Thraupidae, of birds in the order Passeriformes. The family has an Americas distribution.There were traditionally about 240 species of tanagers, but the taxonomic treatment of this family's members is currently in a state of flux....
 clades, and at least one tanager genus (Chlorospingus
Chlorospingus

Chlorospingus, the bush-tanagers, are a genus of perching birds traditionally placed in the tanager family . This seems in error according to more recent studies, which suggest that they are closely related to the genus Arremonops in the Emberizidae ....
) may belong here in the Emberizidae.

Characteristics


Emberizids are small birds, typically around 15 cm in length, with finch-like bills and nine primary feathers. The family ranges in size from the Sporophila
Sporophila

Sporophila is a genus of bird in the Thraupidae family. The Oryzoborus are sometimes included in this genus....
 seedeaters, the smaller species of which are about 10 cm and weigh 9-10 grams, to the Abert's Towhee
Abert's Towhee

The Abert's Towhee is a bird of the family Emberizidae, native to a small range in southwestern North America, generally the lower Colorado River and Gila River watersheds, nearly endemic to Arizona, but also present in small parts of California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, and Sonora in Mexico....
, at 24 cm (9.5 in), and the shorter-tailed, but chunkier Canyon Towhee
Canyon Towhee

The Canyon Towhee or Brown Towhee, Pipilo fuscus, is a bird of the family Emberizidae. It is native to lower-lying areas from Arizona, southern Colorado, and western Texas south to northwestern Oaxaca , Mexico, mostly avoiding the coasts....
, at 54 grams (1.9 oz). They live in a variety of habitats, including woodland, brush, marsh, and grassland. The Old World species tend to have brown, streaked, plumage
Plumage

Plumage refers both to the layer of feathers that cover a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage vary between species and subspecies and can also vary between different age classes, sexes, and season....
, although some New World species can be very brightly coloured. Many species have distinctive head patterns. Their diet consists mainly of seeds, but may be supplemented with insects, especially when feeding the young.

The habits of emberizids are similar to those of finch
Finch

Finches are passerine birds, often seed-eating, found mainly in the northern hemisphere and Africa. One subfamily is endemic to the Neotropics. The family scientific name Fringillidae comes from the Latin word "fringilla", meaning chaffinch, a member of this family that is common in Europe....
es, 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. With a few exceptions, emberizids build cup-shaped nests from grasses and other plant fibres, and are monogamous
Monogamy

Monogamy is the state of having only one husband, wife, or sexual partner at any one time. The word monogamy comes from the Greek word monos "?????", which means one or alone, and the Greek word gamos "?????", which means marriage or union....
.

Systematics


The relationships of these birds with other groups within the huge nine-primaried oscine
Nine-primaried oscine

The nine-primaried oscines are a group of songbird family from the superfamily Passeroidea. It is comprised of the Fringillidae , Emberizidae , Parulidae , Thraupidae , Cardinalidae , Icteridae and the monotypic Peucedramidae ....
 assemblage are at this point largely unresolved. Indeed relationships within the Emberizidae
Emberizidae

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 Bunting ....
 as defined here are uncertain with the possibility that each of the three main groups may not be all that closely related.

The buntings
Bunting (bird)

Buntings are a group of eurasian and african passerine birds of the Family Emberizidae.They are seed-eating birds with stubby, conical bills, and are the Old World equivalents of the species known in North America as American sparrow....

The results of a recent biochemical study suggest that Melophus, Latoucheornis, and Miliaria
Corn Bunting

The Corn Bunting, Miliaria calandra, is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae, a group now separated by most modern authors from the finches, Fringillidae....
 may be related to various members of Emberiza
Emberiza

Emberiza is a genus of passerine birds of the bunting Family Emberizidae.List of species:* Yellowhammer, Emberiza citrinella* Pine Bunting, Emberiza leucocephalos...
 and perhaps should be subsumed within that genus.
  • Genus Melophus - Crested Bunting
  • Genus Latoucheornis - Slaty Bunting
  • Genus Emberiza
    Emberiza

    Emberiza is a genus of passerine birds of the bunting Family Emberizidae.List of species:* Yellowhammer, Emberiza citrinella* Pine Bunting, Emberiza leucocephalos...
     - typical buntings (nearly 40 species)
  • Genus Miliaria
    Corn Bunting

    The Corn Bunting, Miliaria calandra, is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae, a group now separated by most modern authors from the finches, Fringillidae....
     - Corn Bunting


The american sparrow
American sparrow

American sparrows are a group of mainly New World passerine birds, forming part of the family Emberizidae. American sparrows are seed-eating birds with conical bills, brown or gray in color, and many species have distinctive head patterns....
s and brush-finches, including junco
Junco

The Juncos , genus Junco, are small American sparrows. Their systematics are still very confusing after decades of research, with various authors accepting between three and twelve species....
s and towhee
Towhee

A Towhee is any one of a number of species of birds in the genus Pipilo within the family Emberizidae .Towhees typically have longer tails than other emberizids....
s

Chlorospingus
Chlorospingus

Chlorospingus, the bush-tanagers, are a genus of perching birds traditionally placed in the tanager family . This seems in error according to more recent studies, which suggest that they are closely related to the genus Arremonops in the Emberizidae ....
 seems to belong here too.
  • Genus Arremon
    Arremon

    Arremon is a genus of bird in the Emberizidae family....
     (7 species)
  • Genus Arremonops
    Arremonops

    Arremonops is a genus of bird in the Emberizidae family.It contains the following species:* Green-backed Sparrow * Olive Sparrow * Tocuyo Sparrow ...
     (4 species)
  • Genus Melozone
    Melozone

    Melozone is a genus of bird in the Emberizidae family.It contains the following species:* Prevost's Ground-sparrow * Rusty-crowned Ground-sparrow ...
     (3 species)
  • Genus Pipilo - towhees (9 species)
  • Genus Aimophila
    Aimophila

    Aimophila is a genus of American sparrows. The derivation of the genus name is from aimos/a???? 'thicket' and phila/f??a 'loving'....
     (14 species)
  • Genus Oriturus - Striped Sparrow
  • Genus Torreornis - Zapata Sparrow
  • Genus Spizella
    Spizella

    The genus Spizella is a group of American sparrows in the family Emberizidae.These birds are fairly small and slim, with short bills, round heads and long wings....
     (7 species)
  • Genus Pooecetes - Vesper Sparrow
  • Genus Chondestes - Lark Sparrow
  • Genus Amphispiza
    Amphispiza

    Amphispiza is a genus of Aves in the Emberizidae family. It contains two species:* Black-throated Sparrow, Amphispiza bilineata* Sage Sparrow, Amphispiza belli...
     (2 species)
  • Genus Calamospiza - Lark Bunting
  • Genus Passerculus (1-2 species)
  • Genus Ammodramus
    Ammodramus

    The genus Ammodramus is a group of American sparrows in the family Emberizidae.These birds are relatively small, with large bills, flat heads and short tails....
     (9 species)
  • Genus Passerella - Fox Sparrow (probably 4 species)
  • Genus Xenospiza - Sierra Madre Sparrow
  • Genus Melospiza
    Melospiza

    Melospiza is a genus of passerine birds in Family Emberizidae. The genus, commonly referred to as "song sparrows," contains currently three species, all of which are native to North America....
     (3 species)
  • Genus Zonotrichia
    Zonotrichia

    Zonotrichia is a genus of five American sparrows of the family Emberizidae. Four of the species are North American, but the Rufous-collared Sparrow breeds in highlands from the extreme southeast of Mexico to Tierra del Fuego, and on Hispaniola....
     (5 species)
  • Genus Junco
    Junco

    The Juncos , genus Junco, are small American sparrows. Their systematics are still very confusing after decades of research, with various authors accepting between three and twelve species....
     - juncos (4 species)


The following are a group of apparently closely related neotropical sparrows known as the brush-finches
  • Genus Atlapetes
    Atlapetes

    Atlapetes is a genus of bird in the Emberizidae family. Along with the genus Buarremon they comprise the brush-finches.It contains the following species:...
     (around 28 species)
  • Genus Buarremon
    Buarremon

    Buarremon is a genus of perching birds in the family Emberizidae. Recent evidence indicates this genus should be merged into Arremon, but if recognized as a valid genus, it contains the following species:...
     (3-4 species)
  • Genus Lysurus
    Lysurus

    Lysurus is a genus of bird in the Emberizidae family. Recent evidence indicates this genus should be merged into Arremon, but if recognized as a valid genus, it contains the following species:...
      (2 species)
  • Genus Pselliophorus
    Pselliophorus

    Pselliophorus is a genus of bird in the Emberizidae family.It contains the following species:* Yellow-green Finch * Yellow-thighed Finch...
      (2 species)
  • Genus Pezopetes - Large-footed Finch


The longspur
Longspur

The Longspurs, genus Calcarius, are a group of birds in the family Emberizidae. The name refers to the long claw on the hind toe of each foot....
s and arctic buntings

  • Genus Calcarius (4 species)
  • Genus Plectrophenax
    Plectrophenax

    Plectrophenax is a small genus of passerine birds of the bunting Family Emberizidae.It has two members, which may be conspecific.* Snow Bunting, Plectrophenax nivalis...
     - Arctic buntings (2 species)


Genera belonging elsewhere

The rest of the traditional Emberizidae are listed below. While they do not form a natural group most appear to be closer to various tanager genera, and for the largest part they are often known collectively as tanager-finches.

  • Genus Amaurospiza
    Amaurospiza

    Amaurospiza is a genus of birds. These "seedeaters" were formerly associated with the American sparrows and placed in the Emberizidae or the Fringillidae....
     - blue seedeaters (4 species) - may belong with certain grosbeak
    Grosbeak

    Grosbeak is the name given to a form taxon containing several species of seed-eating passerine birds with large beaks. Although they all belong to the superfamily Passeroidea, they are not a natural group but rather a polyphyletic assemblage of distantly related songbirds....
    s (Cyanocompsa
    Cyanocompsa

    Cyanocompsa is a genus of cardinal in the Cardinalidae family.It contains the following species:* Ultramarine Grosbeak * Blue Bunting * Blue-black Grosbeak ...
    )     in the family Cardinalidae.
  • Genus Acanthidops - Peg-billed Finch
  • Genus Camarhynchus
    Camarhynchus

    Camarhynchus is a genus of bird in the Thraupidae family; all species of Camarhynchus are endemic to the Galapagos Islands. Sometimes classified in the bunting and American sparrow family Emberizidae, more recent studies have shown it to belong in the tanager family....
     - tree-finches (6 species)
  • Genus Catamenia
    Catamenia (genus)

    Catamenia is a genus of atypical seedeaters. Formerly placed in the Emberizidae, they are now considered tanagers....
     - atypical seedeaters (3 species)
  • Genus Certhidea - Warbler Finch
  • Genus Charitospiza - Coal-crested Finch
  • Genus Coereba - Bananaquit
  • Genus Coryphaspiza - Black-masked Finch
  • Genus Coryphospingus
    Coryphospingus

    A small genus of finch-like tanagers found in South America, Coryphospingus was formerly classified in the family Emberizidae along with the buntings and American sparrows....
     (2 species)
  • Genus Diglossa
    Diglossa

    Diglossa can refer to* Diglossia, a linguistic term in which, in a given society, there are two closely-related languages, one of high prestige, which is generally used by the government and in formal texts, and one of low prestige, which is usually the spoken vernacular tongue....
     - typical flowerpiercers (14 species)
  • Genus Diglossopis
    Diglossopis

    Diglossopis is a genus of blue flowerpiercers in the family Thraupidae. They are closely related to the genus Diglossa , and some retain all flowerpiercers in that genus....
     - blue flowerpiercers
  • Genus Diuca
    Diuca

    Diuca is a genus of andean seed-eating tanagers....
     - diuca-finches (2 species)
  • Genus Dolospingus - White-naped Seedeater
  • Genus Donacospiza - Long-tailed Reed-finch
  • Genus Emberizoides
    Emberizoides

    Emberizoides is a small genus of finch-like tanagers found in grassy areas in Central America and South America....
     - grass-finches (3 species)
  • Genus Embernagra
    Embernagra

    Embernagra is a genus of finch-like tanagers....
     (2 species)
  • Genus Euneornis - Orangequit
  • Genus Geospiza
    Geospiza

    Geospiza is a genus of bird in the Thraupidae family; all species of Geospiza are endemic to the Galapagos Islands. Sometimes classified in the bunting and American sparrow family Emberizidae, more recent studies have shown it to belong in the tanager family....
     - ground-finches (6 species)
  • Genus Gubernatrix - Yellow Cardinal
  • Genus Haplospiza
    Haplospiza

    Haplospiza is a small genus of birds in the Thraupidae family. Sometimes classified in the bunting and American sparrow family Emberizidae, more recent studies have shown it to belong in the Thraupidae....
     (2 species)
  • Genus Idiopsar - Short-tailed Finch
  • Genus Incaspiza
    Incaspiza

    Incaspiza is a genus of finch-like tanagers....
     (5 species)
  • Genus Lophospingus
    Lophospingus

    Lophospingus is a genus of bird in the Thraupidae family. Sometimes classified in the bunting and American sparrow family Emberizidae, more recent studies have shown it to belong in the tanager family....
     (2 species)
  • Genus Loxigilla
    Loxigilla

    Loxigilla is a genus of bird in the Thraupidae family. Sometimes classified in the bunting and American sparrow family Emberizidae, more recent studies have shown it to belong in the tanager family....
     - Antillean bullfinches (4 species)
  • Genus Loxipasser - Yellow-shouldered Grassquit
  • Genus Melanodera
    Melanodera

    Melanodera is a genus of Patagonian seed-eating tanagers....
     (2 species)
  • Genus Melanospiza - St. Lucia Black Finch
  • Genus Melopyrrha - Cuban Bullfinch
  • Genus Nesospiza
    Nesospiza

    Nesospiza is a genus of seed-eating tanagers found on the Tristan da Cunha archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean....
     - Tristan da Cunha finches (2 species)
  • Genus Oryzoborus
    Oryzoborus

    Oryzoborus is a genus of bird in the Thraupidae family. Sometimes classified in the bunting and American sparrow family Emberizidae, more recent studies have shown it to belong in the Thraupidae....
     - seed-finches (6 species)
  • Genus Paroaria
    Paroaria

    Paroaria, the red-headed cardinals or cardinal-tanagers , are a genus of tanagers. They were until recently placed in the family Emberizidae....
     - cardinal-tanagers (5 species)
  • Genus Phrygilus
    Phrygilus

    Phrygilus is a genus of mainly Andean seed-eating tanagers commonly known as sierra-finches. Sometimes classified in the bunting and American sparrow family Emberizidae, more recent studies have shown them to belong in the Thraupidae....
     - sierra-finches (11 species)
  • Genus Piezorhina - Cinereous Finch
  • Genus Pinaroloxias - Cocos Island Finch
  • Genus Poospiza
    Poospiza

    Poospiza is a genus of finch-like tanagers found in both the South American lowlands and the Andes mountains. Generally they are arboreal feeders in light woodland and scrub....
     - warbling-finches (17 species)
  • Genus Rhodospingus - Crimson-breasted Finch
  • Genus Rowettia - Gough Finch
  • Genus Saltatricula - Many-colored Chaco-finch
  • Genus Sicalis
    Sicalis

    Sicalis is a genus of bird in the Thraupidae family. Sometimes classified in the bunting and American sparrow family Emberizidae, more recent studies have shown it to belong in the Thraupidae....
     - yellow-finches (12 species)
  • Genus Sporophila
    Sporophila

    Sporophila is a genus of bird in the Thraupidae family. The Oryzoborus are sometimes included in this genus....
     - typical seedeaters (some 55 species)
  • Genus Tiaris
    Tiaris

    Tiaris is a genus of songbirds in the tanager family . It was until recently considered allied to the American Sparrows and placed in the Emberizidae family....
     - typical grassquits (5 species)
  • Genus Volatinia - Blue-black Grassquit
  • Genus Xenospingus - Slender-billed Finch


External links

  • on the Internet Bird Collection
  • on xeno-canto.org