Pinicola

The pine grosbeak (''Pinicola enucleator'') is a large member of the true finch family, Fringillidae. It is the only species in the genus ''Pinicola''. It is found in coniferous woods across Alaska, the western mountains of the United States, Canada, and in subarctic Fennoscandia and across the Palearctic to Siberia. The species is a frugivore, especially in winter, favoring small fruits, such as rowans (mountain-ashes in the New World). With fruit-crop abundance varying from year to year, pine grosbeak is one of many subarctic-resident bird species that exhibit irruptive behavior. In irruption years, individuals can move long distances in search of suitable food supplies, bringing them farther south and/or downslope than is typical of years with large fruit crops.

Taxonomy

The pine grosbeak was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae'' under the binomial name ''Loxia enucleator''. The type locality is Sweden. It is now the only species placed in the genus ''Pinicola'' that was erected in 1808 by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot. The generic name ''Pinicola'' combines the Latin ''pinus'' meaning "pine tree" and ''colere'' meaning "to dwell"; the specific ''enucleator'' is from the Latin ''enucleare'' meaning "to remove the kernel".

The pine grosbeak is a sister taxon to the bullfinches of the genus ''Pyrrhula''. The crimson-browed finch (''Carpodacus subhimachalus'') was previously placed in the genus ''Pinicola''. It was moved to the rosefinch genus ''Carpodacus'' based on results from phylogenetic studies of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences that were published in 2012 and 2013.

Eight subspecies are recognised:
* ''P. e. enucleator'' (Linnaeus, 1758) – Scandinavia to central Siberia
* ''P. e. kamtschatkensis'' ( Dybowski, 1883) – northeastern Siberia
* ''P. e. sakhalinensis'' Buturlin, 1915 – Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, northern Japan
* ''P. e. flammula'' Homeyer, 1880 – coastal southern Alaska and western Canada
* ''P. e. carlottae'' Brooks, AC, 1922 – the Queen Charlotte Islands (off western Canada)
* ''P. e. montana'' Ridgway, 1898 – inland southwestern Canada to west-central U.S.
* ''P. e. californica'' Price, 1897 – eastern California
* ''P. e. leucura'' (Müller, PLS, 1776) – inland west, central Alaska to eastern Canada and northern New England (U.S.)

Description

This species is one of the largest species in the true finch family. It measures from in length and weighs from , with an average mass of . The pine grosbeak's wingspan is 13.0 in (33 cm). Among standard measurements, the wing chord is , the tail is , the bill is and the tarsus is .''CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses'' by John B. Dunning Jr. (Editor). CRC Press (1992), . Adults have a long forked black tail, black wings with white wing bars and a large bill. Adult males have a rose-red head, back and rump, They also possess black wings and tail, with a conical beak. Adult females are olive-yellow on the head and rump and grey on the back and underparts. Young birds have a less contrasting plumage overall, appearing shaggy when they moult their colored head plumage.

Its voice is geographically variable, and includes a whistled ''pui pui pui'' or ''chii-vli''. The song is a short musical warble.

Distribution and habitat

Pine grosbeaks breed in the boreal forests of northern Eurasia and North America, and typically either remain resident near their breeding grounds or migrate relatively short distances to the southern extent of boreal forests. During irruptive years, more travel to southern boreal forests and some move further south. In such years in the New World, they can occur well south of their typical winter distribution, which is the northern Great Lakes region and northern New England in the United States. This species is a very rare vagrant to temperate parts of Europe; in all of Germany, for example, not more than 4 individuals per year and often none at all have been recorded since 1980. The birds have also been known to live in coniferous forests, and other woodlands of the sort.

Behaviour and ecology

The breeding habitat of the pine grosbeak is coniferous forests. They nest on a horizontal branch or in a fork of a conifer. This bird is a permanent resident through most of its range; in the extreme north or when food sources are scarce, they may migrate farther south. When breeding both sexes develop which they use to store seeds before feeding them to the young.

Pine grosbeaks forage in trees and bushes. They mainly eat seeds, buds, berries, and insects. Outside of the nesting season, they often feed in flocks.

Pinicola enucleator5.jpg, Immature male
Pine Grosbeak, female.jpg, Front view of female, notice forked tail, Gatineau Park, Quebec
Pinicola enucleator MHNT.ZOO.2010.11.220 Suomussalmi Naurois.jpg, Eggs of ''Pinicola enucleator'' MHNT

References

External links

*

Pine Grosbeak – ''Pinicola enucleator''
– USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter

Xeno-canto: audio recordings of the pine grosbeak
*

{{Taxonbar, from=Q214571

pine grosbeak
pine grosbeak
Holarctic birds
pine grosbeak
pine grosbeak