Crimson-collared grosbeak

Rhodothraupis celaeno

Photo by Lew Scharpf (PBase)

Common name:
crimson-collared grosbeak (en); bico-grosso-de-coleira (pt); cardinal à collier (fr); picogrueso cuellirrufo (es); halsbandkardinal (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Cardinalidae

Range:
This species is endemic to eastern Mexico, being found from Nuevo Léon to northern Vera Cruz and north-eastern Puebla.

Size:
These birds 21-22 cm long and weigh about 60 g.

Habitat:
The crimson-collared grosbeak is mostly found in dry tropical forests and scrublands, also using humid forests, second growths, citrus groves and sweet gums stands.

Diet:
They feed on leaves, seeds and berries, also taking some insects.

Breeding:
These birds may breed in May-July. The nest is a loosely built cup made of twigs and grass, and lined with finer materials, placed in a scrub, tangled vine or small tree up to 2 m above the ground. The female lays 2-3 light blue-grey eggs with brown flecks, which she incubates alone for 11-13 days. There is no information regarding the fledging period.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a large breeding range and the global population is estimated at 20.000-50.000 individuals. Although there in no information on population trends, the crimson-collared grosbeak appears to adapt to some altered habitats, making less vulnerable to habitat changes than other species.

Dickcissel

Spiza americana

(Photo from Internet Bird Collection)

Common name:
dickcissel (en); papa-capim-americano (pt); dickcissel d'Amérique (fr); arrocero americano (es); dickzissel (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Cardinalidae

Range:
This species breeds in central North America, ranging as far north as Minnesota, North Dakota and marginally into southern Canada, and south to Texas and South Louisiana. From east to west it ranges from the states of Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee, west as far as Colorado. They migrate south to winter along the Pacific coast of central and southern Mexico, along the pacific slopes of Central America and into northern Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana and marginally into Brazil.

Size:
These birds are 14-16 cm long and have a wingspan of 25 cm. They weigh 23-29 g.

Habitat:
The dickcissel is mostly found in tall grasslands, including prairies, hayfields, cereal crops, lightly grazed pastures, and roadsides. They can also use moist savannas. This species is present from sea level up to an altitude of 1.500 m.

Diet:
They feed on seeds and insects. During winter they often flock over crop fields to eat grain and are considered a pest by farmers.

Breeding:
These birds breed in May-June. The female builds the nest alone, a bulky cup woven out of weed and grass stems, and lined with finer grasses, rootlets, and hair. It is usually placed slightly above the ground in dense vegetation. There she lays 3-6 pale blue eggs which are incubated for 12-15 days. The chicks are fed various invertebrates and fledge 8-10 days after hatching.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a very large breeding range and the global population is estimated at 22 million individuals. The population suffered a dramatic decline in the 1960s and 1970s but is now considered stable although it may be still declining in some areas. In part of their wintering range they are hunted and illegally poisoned by farmers who consider them crop pests.

Northern cardinal

Cardinalis cardinalis

(Photo from Wikipedia)

Common name:
northern cardinal (en); cardeal (pt); cardinal rouge (fr); cardenal rojo (es); rotkardinal (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Cardinalidae

Range:
This species is found throughout the eastern United States, as far west as Nebraska, eastern Colorado and Texas, also marginally into south-eastern Canada, in southern New Mexico and Arizona, and through Mexico down to northern Guatemala.

Size:
These birds are 20-23,5 cm long and have a wingspan of 25-31 cm. They weigh 35-65 g.

Habitat:
The northern cardinal is mostly found in scrublands, and also along the edges of temperate and tropical forests, in swamps and marshes, along rivers and streams and within urban areas. They are present from sea level up to an altitude of 2.500 m.

Diet:
They feed mainly on weed seeds, grains, berries and fruits, such as dogwood, wild grape, buckwheat, grasses, sedges, mulberry, hackberry, blackberry, sumac, tulip-tree, and corn. They also eat sunflower seeds, snails and a few insects such as beetles, cicadas and grasshoppers.

Breeding:
Northern cardinals are serially monogamous , although polygyny occurs sometimes. They breed in March-September. The female builds the nest, using materials collected by the male, consisting of a cup made of coarse twigs and sometimes bits of trash, covered in a leafy mat, and lined with grapevine bark, grasses, stems, rootlets, and pine needles. It is placed in a dense tangle of vines or scrubs, 1-3 m above the ground. There she lays 2-5 white to greenish eggs with pale grey or brown speckles, which she incubates alone for 11-13 days while being fed by the male. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge 7-13 days after hatching, but continue to receive food from the parents for 4-8 weeks. Each pair can raise up to 4 broods per season, often with the female incubating one brood while the male is still tending the chicks from the previous brood.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a very large breeding range and is generally common. The population has had a stable trend over the last 4 decades in North America.

Rose-breasted grosbeak

Pheucticus ludovicianus

Photo by John Harrison (Wikipedia)

Common name:
rose-breasted grosbeak (en); bico-grosso-tricolor (pt); cardinal à poitrine rose (fr); picogrueso degollado (es); rosenbrust-kernknacker (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Cardinalidae

Range:
This species breeds in northern North America, from British Columbia in the west to the Atlantic coast of Canada in the east and as far south as New Jersey, the Appalachian Mountains through South Carolina, west to eastern Kansas, Nebraska, and the Dakotas. They migrate south to winter in the greater Antilles, coastal Mexico, and throughout Central America and northern South America to eastern Peru and the Guyanas.

Size:
These birds are 18-22 cm long and have a wingspan of 29-33 cm. They weigh 35-65 g.

Habitat:
Rose-breasted grosbeaks breed in deciduous and mixed forests in boreal and temperate areas, especially along forest edges, but also in second-growth woodlands, orchards, suburban parks and gardens. They winter in open tropical forests and rural areas.

Diet:
They eat seeds, berries, fruits and insects. They are known to take beetles, ants, bees, bugs and caterpillars, as well as the berries of elderberry, red-berried elder, blackberry, raspberry, mulberry, juneberry, and the seeds of various herbs such as smartweed, pigweed, foxtail, milkweed, sunflower and domestic crops such as peas, corn, oats and wheat.

Breeding:
Rose-breasted grosbeaks form monogamous pairs that last a single breeding season. They breed in May-July and the nest is a cup loosely woven of grasses and twigs, lined with shredded bark, pine needles and fine grasses. The nest is placed on a tree, scrub or vine, up to 17 m above the ground. The female lays 1-5 pale green or blue eggs with reddish brown blotches and speckles. The eggs are incubated for 11-14 days and the chicks fledge 9-12 days after hatching but only become fully independent 3 weeks later. Each pair typically raises a single clutch per year.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a very large breeding range. The population is considered large and, although there have been marginal declines in some areas, the overall population seems to be mostly stable.

Desert cardinal

Cardinalis sinuatus

(Photo from Wikipedia)

Common name:
desert cardinal (en); cardeal-do-deserto (pt); cardinal gris (fr); cardenal pardo (es); schmalschnabelkardinal (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Cardinalidae

Range:
This species is found in the south-western United States and in northern Mexico.

Size:
These birds are 21 cm long and weigh 24-43 g.

Habitat:
Desert cardinals are found in desert scrublands and mesquite thickets, often along creek beds.

Diet:
These birds do most of their foraging on the ground, eating the seeds of bristlegrass, doveweed, sandbur, pancium, sorghum, and pigweed. They also eat cactus fruit and cottonwood catkins and various insects including grasshoppers, caterpillars, beetles, stinkbugs, and cicadas.

Breeding:
Desert cardinals breed in March-August. The nest is a small cup or bowl, made of grass, twigs or bits of tree bark, placed in the mesquite brush or on the ground against a tree trunk. The female lays 2-4 greyish-white eggs with grey or brown speckles, which she incubates alone for 14 days while being fed by the male. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge 10 days after hatching, but may only become fully independent 1 month later.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a very large breeding range and the global population is estimated at 8 million individuals. The population has undergone a small decline over the last few decades, mostly because of habitat loss due to human development.

Painted bunting

Passerina ciris

Photo by Doug Janson (Wikipedia)

Common name:

painted bunting (en); pintado (pt); passerin nonpareil (fr); azulillo pintado (es); papstfink (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Passeriformes

Family Cardinalidae

Range:

This North American species has two geographically disjunct populations. The western population breeds from northern Mexico to northern Texas, and winters in south-west Mexico. The eastern population breeds along the Atlantic coast of the United States, from North Carolina to Florida, and winters in southern Florida and the Caribbean.

Size:

These birds are 12-13 cm long and weigh 13-19 g.

Habitat:

The western population breeds in open areas with scattered brush, riparian thickets and shrubbery. The eastern population breeds in coastal scrubland and along the margins of maritime hammocks, but also in agricultural land. Both populations winter in tropical forest margins and tropical savanna.

Diet:

Painted buntings do most of their foraging on the ground. During the breeding season they mostly eat grasshoppers, caterpillars, spiders and snails, while during winter they are mostly granivorous, eating the seeds of grasses like Panicum, Amaranthus, Oxalis, Euphorbia and Carex.

Breeding:

These birds are mostly monogamous, but sometimes exhibit polygyny. They breed in April-August, with the females building the nest, a deep, neatly woven cup of plant fibres, lined with hair or fine grass. The nest is usually placed in low vegetation. The female lays 3-4 grey or bluish-white eggs with brown speckles, which she incubates alone for 11-13 days. The chicks are cared solely by the female and fledge 12-14 days after hatching. They typically raise 2 broods per season.

Conservation:

IUCN status - NT (Near-Threatened)

This species has a very large breeding range and a global population estimated at 4,5 million individuals. Still, the population has declined over the long term and apparently continues to do so at a moderately rapid rate, justifying the current threat status. The main threats affecting this species are the loss and intensification of habitat through urban development, road building and agricultural intensification, and capture for the cage bird trade.

Buff-throated saltator

Saltator maximus

Common name:

buff-throated saltator (en); trinca-ferro (pt); saltator des grands-bois (fr); saltator gorjileonado (es); buntkehlsaltator (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Passeriformes

Family Cardinalidae

Range:

This species occurs from southern Mexico south to northwestern Colombia. then found east of the Andes from Colombia, east through Venezuela and the Guyanas and south to eastern Bolivia, Paraguay, and south central Brazil. There also is an isolated population in the Atlantic forest region of south-eastern Brazil.

Size:

Buff-throated saltators are 20 cm long and weigh 46-50 g.

Habitat:

They favor the edges of humid lowland forest, and can be found foraging in mid-level foliage or less often in the canopy inside the forest. This species enters forests only a short distance in order to forage and rarely enters to nest. They also visit shady plantations, dense vegetation, brushy pastures and gardens near the edge of forests. They are found from sea level up to an altitude of 1.600 m.

Diet:

The buff-throated saltator eats fruits, buds, seeds, nectar and slow-moving insects including ants and wasps.

Breeding:

They breed in February-August. The nest is a bulky cup placed in a tree or bush from ground level up to 9 m high. The female lays 2-3 pale blue eggs which she incubates alone for 13-14 days. The chicks are fed by both parents, fledging 13-15 days after hatching. Each pair may produce 1-2 broods per season.

Conservation:

IUCN status - LC (Least concern)

With a very large breeding range and a population estimated at 5-50 million individuals, this species is not considered threatened at present.