Cardinals

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Cardinals
Red cardinal ♂ (Cardinalis cardinalis)

Red cardinal ♂ ( Cardinalis cardinalis )

Systematics
Subclass : New-jawed birds (Neognathae)
Order : Passerines (Passeriformes)
Subordination : Songbirds (passeri)
without rank: Passerida
Superfamily : Passeroidea
Family : Cardinals
Scientific name
Cardinalidae
Ridgway , 1901

The Cardinal (Cardinalidae) are a bird family of the order of perching birds (Passeriformes). As things stand today (2018), the family contains 14 genera and 53 species .

They are closely related to the tangaren (Thraupidae) and somewhat more distantly also to the finches (Fringillidae) and the bunting (Emberizidae). The cardinals were also formerly viewed as a subfamily or tribe of the latter. Some authors put all of the families just mentioned to the finches. Extensive phylogenetic studies have recently led to major changes in the composition of the Cardinalidae family and related families, but have also placed the composition on a scientifically more secure basis.

The cardinals get their name from the color cardinal red , a color that is particularly prevalent in the plumage of the male of the type species , the red cardinal .

description

The cardinals are finch to starling-sized birds, characterized by bright red, yellow or blue plumage. The sexes usually differ in the color of the plumage. All species have a strong, conical beak .

distribution and habitat

They live primarily in bushy landscapes and in forest areas in North and South America .

nutrition

The cardinals feed mostly on seeds .

Genera and species

The family system varies greatly in the literature, depending on the author. The genera Cyanoloxia , Cyanocompsa , Guiraca and Passerina are combined in some systematics in different constellations to form the genus Passerina . Because of this lack of clarity, the Ultramarine Bishop , here Cyanocompsa brissonii , was renamed as a precaution. The originally valid name Cyanocompsa cyanea leads to an ambiguous name Passerina cyanea when the genera Cyanocompsa and Passerina merge . Since the indigo finch has priority due to its earlier naming, the old taxon Cyanocompsa cyanea would have to be changed when the genera were merged . In order to ensure clarity until the relationship has been finally clarified, the taxon Cyanocompsa cyanea was renamed Cyanocompsa brissonii .

Some genera were separated from the family based on the results of recent molecular genetic investigations and are now assigned to the Tangaren. Other genera from these families have been accepted into the cardinals. The following list contains the genera and species that are currently (2018) assigned to the family by the IOU .

Narrow-beaked cardinal
( Cardinalis sinuatus )
Glaze bishop
( Cyanocompsa parellina )
Lazulifink
( Passerina amoena )
Rose breast crackers
( Pheucticus ludovicianus )

From the family of the tangerines the following genera were incorporated into the family of cardinals:

Scarlet Tangar ( Piranga olivacea )

Previously not clearly assigned ( incertae sedis ) and now in this family:

The genera Parkerthraustes with one species, the yellow-shouldered tangar ( Parkerthraustes humeralis ), the saltators ( Saltator ) with 13 species, and the like no longer belong to the cardinals, but to the tangars . a. the Maskensaltator ( Saltator cinctus ) and Pitylus with a type, Papageischnabelsaltator ( Pitylus fuliginosus ).

literature

  • del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Christie, DA eds. (2011): Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 16. Tanagers to New World Blackbirds. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Frank Gill & David Donsker, IOC World Bird List v 8.2  : Cardinals, grosbeaks and (tanager) allies
  2. ↑ a b K. J. Burns, P.Unitt & NA Mason: A genus-level classification of the family Thraupidae (Class Aves: Order Passeriformes) . In: Zootaxa . tape 4088 , no. 3 , 2016, p. 329-354 , doi : 10.11646 / zootaxa.4088.3.2 .

Web links

Commons : Cardinals (Cardinalidae)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files