The American rosefinches that form the genus Haemorhous are a group of passerine birds in the finch family Fringillidae. As the name implies ("haemo" means "blood" in Greek), various shades of red are characteristic plumage colors of this group. They are found throughout the North American continent.

American rosefinches
House finch (Haemorhous mexicanus)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Fringillidae
Subfamily: Carduelinae
Genus: Haemorhous
Swainson, 1837
Type species
Fringilla purpurea[1]
Gmelin, 1789
Species

See text

The genus is not closely related to the Carpodacus rosefinches that are found in Europe and Asia.[2][3]

Systematics

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There have been a number of rosefinch radiations. One of the first to split off were the ancestors of the North American species and diverged in the Middle Miocene (about 14–12 mya) from the proto-rosefinches.[4]

Within the genus the House Finch is the outgroup, meaning the Purple and Cassin's finches are more closely related to one another than either is to the House Finch.[5]

Species

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The genus contains three species:[2][6]

Genus Haemorhous Swainson, 1837 – two species
Common name Scientific name and subspecies Range Size and ecology IUCN status and estimated population
Cassin's finch

 
Male
 
Female

Haemorhous cassinii
(Baird, 1854)
western North America as far south as northern New Mexico and Arizona; also Southern California near Baja California.
 
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 


Purple finch

 
Male
 
Female

Haemorhous purpureus
(Gmelin, 1789)

Two subspecies
Canada and the northeastern United States
 
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 


House finch

 
Male
 
Female

Haemorhous mexicanus
(Müller, 1776)
North America from southern Canada to the Mexican state of Oaxaca
 
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 





References

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  1. ^ "Fringillidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  2. ^ a b Chesser, R. Terry; Banks, Richard C.; Barker, F. Keith (2012). "Fifty-third Supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds" (PDF). The Auk. 129 (3): 573–588. doi:10.1525/auk.2012.129.3.573. S2CID 198159113. Retrieved 2012-07-18.
  3. ^ Zuccon, Dario; Prŷs-Jones, Robert; Rasmussen, Pamela C.; Ericson, Per G.P. (2012). "The phylogenetic relationships and generic limits of finches (Fringillidae)" (PDF). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 62 (2): 581–596. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2011.10.002. PMID 22023825.
  4. ^ Banks, Richard C.; Browning, M. Ralph (July 1995). "Comments on the Status of Revived Old Names for Some North American Birds" (PDF). The Auk. 112 (3). Berkeley, California: University of California Press: 633–648. JSTOR 4088679.
  5. ^ Smith, Brian Tilston; Bryson, Robert W.; Chua, Vivien; Africa, Lia; Klicka, John (2013-03-01). "Speciational history of North American Haemorhous finches (Aves: Fringillidae) inferred from multilocus data". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 66 (3): 1055–1059. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2012.11.016. ISSN 1055-7903. PMID 23219607.
  6. ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David (eds.). "Finches, euphonias". World Bird List Version 5.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 5 June 2015.