Golden Grosbeak

The golden grosbeak (Pheucticus chrysogaster), also known as golden-bellied grosbeak or southern yellow grosbeak, is a species of grosbeak in the family Cardinalidae. It is similar to, and has sometimes been considered conspecific with, the yellow grosbeak. The golden grosbeak is found in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest. == Taxonomy == The golden grosbeak belongs to the taxonomic family Cardinalidae. Other members of this family include cardinals, buntings, and other grosbeaks. Its genus, Pheuticus (meaning "shy" in Greek), contains six extant species. The golden grosbeak (P. chrysogaster) used to be considered a member of the same species as the black-thighed grosbeak (P. tibialis) and yellow grosbeak (P. chrysopeplus); collectively, they went under the name yellow grosbeak (P. chrysopeplus). Southern yellow grosbeak was the common name given to the subspecies of yellow grosbeak found in the South American Andes of Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, and Columbia, now recognized as the separate species golden grosbeak. Recent phylogenetics supports the separation of these three species and suggests that the golden grosbeak is more closely related to…