Euphonia

Euphonias are members of the genus Euphonia, a group of Neotropical birds in the finch family. They and the chlorophonias comprise the subfamily Euphoniinae.

This article is about a genus of birds. For the talking device, see Euphonia (device).

Euphonia
Violaceous euphonia, Euphonia violacea
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Fringillidae
Subfamily:	Euphoniinae
Genus:	Euphonia Desmarest, 1806
Species
See text.

Most male euphonias are dark metallic blue above and bright yellow below. Many have contrasting pale foreheads and white undertails. Some have light blue patches on the head and/or orangish underparts. Females much more plain, predominantly olive-green all over. They range in overall length from 9 to 11 cm (3.5 to 4.3 in). They eat small fruit and berries, particularly mistletoe (Loranthaceae). Some species may also eat some insects.[1]

Euphonias were once considered members of the tanager family, Thraupidae.[2] A molecular phylogenetic study of the finch family Fringillidae published in 2012 included 9 species from the genus Euphonia and a single species from the genus Chlorophonia, the blue-naped chlorophonia. The resulting cladogram showed the blue-naped chlorophonia nested within the Euphonia clade implying that the genus Euphonia is paraphyletic.[3] The genus was introduced in 1806 by the French zoologist Anselme Gaëtan Desmarest in his Histoire naturelle des tangaras, des manakins et des todiers with the white-vented euphonia as the type species.[4][5]

A taxonomic analysis published in 2020 found that the genus Euphonia was paraphyletic with respect to Chlorophonia. To resolve the paraphyly the authors of the study proposed the resurrection of the genus Cyanophonia that had been introduced in 1851 by Charles Lucien Bonaparte. They suggested that the Antillean euphonia (Cyanophonia musica) should be the type species. The proposed genus would contain three species: the Antillean euphonia, the golden-rumped euphonia and the elegant euphonia. An alternative and simpler way to resolve the paraphyly would be move the three species from Euphonia into Chlorophonia.[6]

Species list

The genus contains 27 species:[7]

Image	Common Name	Scientific name	Distribution
	Jamaican euphonia	Euphonia jamaica	Jamaica
	Plumbeous euphonia	Euphonia plumbea	Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.
	Scrub euphonia	Euphonia affinis	Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua and along the Atlantic coastal lowlands in Costa Rica.
	Purple-throated euphonia	Euphonia chlorotica	Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
	Yellow-crowned euphonia	Euphonia luteicapilla	Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Panama
	Trinidad euphonia	Euphonia trinitatis	Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela.
	Velvet-fronted euphonia	Euphonia concinna	Colombia
	Orange-crowned euphonia	Euphonia saturata	Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru
	Finsch's euphonia	Euphonia finschi	Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname and eastern Venezuela.
	Violaceous euphonia	Euphonia violacea	Trinidad, Tobago and eastern Venezuela south to Paraguay and northeastern Argentina.
	Thick-billed euphonia	Euphonia laniirostris	Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela.
	Yellow-throated euphonia	Euphonia hirundinacea	from Belize south to western Panama
	Green-chinned euphonia	Euphonia chalybea	northeastern Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay.
	Elegant euphonia	Euphonia elegantissima	Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama.
	Antillean euphonia	Euphonia musica	Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti), and Puerto Rico
	Golden-rumped euphonia	Euphonia cyanocephala	Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela.
	Spot-crowned euphonia	Euphonia imitans	Costa Rica and Panama.
	Fulvous-vented euphonia	Euphonia fulvicrissa	Colombia
	Olive-backed euphonia	Euphonia gouldi	southern Mexico to western Panama.
	Bronze-green euphonia	Euphonia mesochrysa	Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
	White-lored euphonia	Euphonia chrysopasta	Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.
	White-vented euphonia	Euphonia minuta	southern Mexico south along the Pacific coast to northwestern Ecuador, the second across northern South America from the eastern Andean foothills as far east as the state of Pará in Brazil, and south to northern Bolivia.
	Tawny-capped euphonia	Euphonia anneae	Colombia, Costa Rica, and Panama.
	Orange-bellied euphonia	Euphonia xanthogaster	Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela.
	Rufous-bellied euphonia	Euphonia rufiventris	Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.
	Chestnut-bellied euphonia	Euphonia pectoralis	Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay.
	Golden-sided euphonia	Euphonia cayennensis	Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname and eastern Venezuela.

The black-throated euphonia ("Euphonia vittata") is now thought to be a hybrid between the chestnut-bellied euphonia and the orange-bellied euphonia.

References

1. del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J.; Christie, D.A.; de Juana, E. (eds.). "Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive". Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 15 July 2015.(subscription required)
2. Banks, Richard C.; Cicero, Carla; Dunn, Jon L.; Kratter, Andrew W.; Rasmussen, Pamela C.; Remsen, J.V. Jr.; Rising, James D.; Stotz, Douglas F. (2003). "Forty-fourth supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-List of North American Birds". The Auk. 120 (3): 923–931. doi:10.1642/0004-8038(2003)120[0923:FSTTAO]2.0.CO;2.
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. Desmarest, Anselme Gaëtan (1806). Histoire naturelle des tangaras, des manakins et des todiers (in French). Paris: Garnery. p. 35 and plate 27 (pages and plates are not numbered).
5. Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, ed. (1970). Check-list of Birds of the World. Volume 13. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 340.
6. Imfeld, Tyler S.; Barker, F. Keith; Brumfield, Robb T. (2020). "Mitochondrial genomes and thousands of ultraconserved elements resolve the taxonomy and historical biogeography of the Euphonia and Chlorophonia finches (Passeriformes: Fringillidae)". The Auk. doi:10.1093/auk/ukaa016.
7. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David (eds.). "Finches, euphonias". World Bird List Version 5.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 5 June 2015.

External links

• Euphonia videos, photos and sounds on the Internet Bird Collection