NAME: Pinicola enucleator (Linnaeus)

TAXONOMIC UNIQUENESS: There are nine subspecies throughout its range with five breeding in North America and 1 casual vagrant (P. e. montana) in Arizona. DESCRIPTION: The Pine Grosbeak is 8-10 inches (20-25 cm) long with a wingspan of 14-15 inches (35-38 cm), and is the largest of grosbeaks with a d...

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Bibliographic Details
Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
Format: Text
Language:English
Subjects:
Online Access:http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.630.3040
http://www.azgfd.com/w_c/edits/documents/pinienuc.d.pdf
Description
Summary:TAXONOMIC UNIQUENESS: There are nine subspecies throughout its range with five breeding in North America and 1 casual vagrant (P. e. montana) in Arizona. DESCRIPTION: The Pine Grosbeak is 8-10 inches (20-25 cm) long with a wingspan of 14-15 inches (35-38 cm), and is the largest of grosbeaks with a dark heavy conical bill and a lightly forked tail. This species geographically varies in body size, plumage color and bill size. There are also differences between the sexes. Males: pinkish-red head, breast, back and rump; streaked back; white under tail coverts; black wings and tail; white wing bars and tertial edges. Females: yellowish-olive head and rump; gray under parts and back; black wings and tail; white wing bars and tertial edges. They have a distinctive call often given in flight. AIDS TO IDENTIFICATION: The Pine Grosbeak is separable from similar species (finches, crossbills) by its larger size, longer tail and distinctive call notes.