Systematics

Editor’s Note: Recent mitochondrial genetic data indicate that Carduelis is polyphyletic and that Spinus spp. belong to different clade. See the 50th supplement to the AOU Check-list of North American Birds for details. Future revisions of this account will reflect this change.

Geographic Variation

Clinal decrease in body size from Atlantic Coast to Mississippi Valley, but body size peaks across the Rocky Mt. region before diminishing again on the Pacific Coast. Color saturation is darker toward either coast, such that smaller body size corresponds to dark coloration. Browner (less gray) on Pacific Coast, where darkest birds occur in north. Pale wing and tail markings restricted in East, prominent in West.

Subspecies

Four subspecies (Am. Ornithol. Union 1957, 1976), which differ in extent of white or pale markings in the wings and tail and in saturation and tone of mantle coloration; body size useful for distinguishing individuals at extremes.

C. t. tristis (Linnaeus, 1758). Includes Fringilla taria Müller, 1776, and C. americana Swainson and Richardson, 1831. E. U.S. and Canada, west to Great Plain; breeds north to e. Manitoba, central Ontario, central Quebec, and sw. Newfoundland; resident from Great Lakes and New England south to ne. Texas east to w. South Carolina and coastal North Carolina; winters south to nw. Mexico, Gulf Coast, and throughout Florida. Vagrants recorded west to central Arizona (Phillips et al. 1964). White or pale markings in remiges and rectrices restricted (Ridgway 1901).

C. t. pallidus (Mearns, 1890). Breeds in Rocky Mts., Intermountain West, and w. Great Plains north to central Alberta and w. Manitoba (Godfrey 1986) south to at least n. Utah and n. Colorado; winters from n. Great Basin south to n. Sonora and w. Texas. Distinguished by pale body color, more obvious white markings, and more extensive black cap of males. Slightly larger than C. t. tristis (Godfrey 1986). Similar to C. t. tristis but paler overall and white or pale markings in remiges and rectrices more extensive (Ridgway 1901); body size averages larger, particularly compared to nominate subspecies at w. fringe of its range.

C. t. salicamans (Grinnell, 1897). Resident on Pacific Coast (west of Cascade–Sierra Nevada axis) from s. Oregon to s. California, breeding south to San Diego (Unitt 2005). Some winter movement to nw. Baja California (Erickson and Howell 2001) and Mojave and Colorado deserts, west to w. Arizona (Phillips et al. 1964, Patten et al. 2003). Similar to C. t. tristis but browner overall and white or pale markings in remiges and rectrices more extensive (Ridgway 1901), matching pattern in C. t. pallidus; body size averages slightly smaller than in C. t. tristis; also differs from other subspecies in extent of prealternate molt (van Rossem 1943), being greatly reduced in this subspecies.

C. t. jewetti (van Rossem, 1943). Resident in Pacific Northwest from n. Washington south to sw. Oregon (Marshall et al. 2003) and perhaps nw. California (but no definite records for that state; cf. van Rossem 1943); breeding range extends north to sw. British Columbia (including Vancouver Island). Like C. t. salicimans but overall darker and browner still.

Related Species

The Fringillidae is among a handful of 9-primaried oscine passerines with a recent evolutionary history and thus an unclear phylogenetic position relative to other families, notably the Passeridae (Old World sparrows), Ploceidae (weavers), Estrildidae (waxbills, munias, and allies), and Viduidae (wydahs and indigo birds). Some taxonomists have merged all of these families into a single, grand Fringillidae, and still others have merged all 9-primaried oscines into a single family (named Emberizidae because of priority). Four major subdivisions, in this case taxonomic subfamilies, typically are recognized in the Fringillidae (e.g., Am. Ornithol. Union 1998): the Fringillinae (chaffinches and allies), Euphoniinae (euphonies and chlorophonias), Carduelinae (rosefinches, siskins, goldfinches, and allies), and Drepanidinae (Hawaiian “honeycreepers”). The last of these subfamilies is often accorded familial rank.

Within the Carduelinae, the three species of goldfinches in the Americas are only (relatively) distantly related to C. carduelis, the European Goldfinch (Marten and Johnson 1986, Arnaiz-Villena et al. 1998, Zamora et al. 2006), spurring Arnaiz-Villena et al. (1998) to suggest changing the group name of C. tristis from goldfinch to siskin. However, the three goldfinches of the Americas form a clade, with the C. psaltria, the Lesser Goldfinch, sister to C. tristis (cf. Marten and Johnson 1986) and no clear relationship to the various siskins (Zamora et al. 2006).