Black-backed Grosbeak

SCI Name:  Pheucticus aureoventris
Protonym:  Pitylus aureoventris Mag.Zool. 7 cl.2 p.84
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Cardinalidae / Pheucticus
Taxonomy Code:  blbgro2
Type Locality:  Yungas, Sicasica, Bolivia.
Author:  d''Orbigny & Lafresnaye
Publish Year:  1837
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

PHEUCTICUS
(Cardinalidae; Ϯ Black-backed Grosbeak P. aureoventris) Gr. φευκτικος pheuktikos  shy, inclined to avoid  < φευγω pheugō  to flee. Reichenbach's 1850, plate LXXVIII, labelled Passerinae: Pyrrhulinae Coccothraustinae, shows a variety of heavy-billed finches, but gives no clue as to the reasoning behind this generic tag; doubtless a clue will be found in earlier species accounts. "Pheucticus Reichenbach, 1850, Av. Syst. Nat., pl. 78. Type, by subsequent designation (G. R. Gray, 1855, Cat. Genera Subgenera Birds, p. 75), Pitylus aureoventris." (Paynter in Peters 1970, XIII, 217).
Var. Pheuticus.
Synon. Habia, Hedymeles, Zamelodia.

aureoventris
L. aureus  golden  < aurum  gold; venter, ventris  belly.

SUBSPECIES

Black-backed Grosbeak (Merida)
SCI Name: Pheucticus aureoventris meridensis
meridae / meridana / meridanus / meridensis
Mérida, Venezuela.

Black-backed Grosbeak (Yellow-throated)
SCI Name: Pheucticus aureoventris crissalis
crissale / crissalis
Mod. L. crissalis  crissal, of the vent  < crissum  vent, lower tail-coverts  < L. crissare  to copulate, “used of a certain motion of the haunches” (Coues 1882).

Black-backed Grosbeak (Yellow-rumped)
SCI Name: Pheucticus aureoventris uropygialis/terminalis
PHEUCTICUS
(Cardinalidae; Ϯ Black-backed Grosbeak P. aureoventris) Gr. φευκτικος pheuktikos  shy, inclined to avoid  < φευγω pheugō  to flee. Reichenbach's 1850, plate LXXVIII, labelled Passerinae: Pyrrhulinae Coccothraustinae, shows a variety of heavy-billed finches, but gives no clue as to the reasoning behind this generic tag; doubtless a clue will be found in earlier species accounts. "Pheucticus Reichenbach, 1850, Av. Syst. Nat., pl. 78. Type, by subsequent designation (G. R. Gray, 1855, Cat. Genera Subgenera Birds, p. 75), Pitylus aureoventris." (Paynter in Peters 1970, XIII, 217).
Var. Pheuticus.
Synon. Habia, Hedymeles, Zamelodia.

Black-backed Grosbeak (Black-rumped)
SCI Name: Pheucticus aureoventris aureoventris
aureoventris
L. aureus  golden  < aurum  gold; venter, ventris  belly.