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.
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. They eat small fruit and berries, particularly mistletoe. Some species may also eat some insects.
Euphonias were once considered members of the tanager family, Thraupidae. 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.
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.
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 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.

Species list

The genus contains 27 species:
ImageCommon NameScientific nameDistribution
Jamaican euphonia Euphonia jamaicaJamaica
Plumbeous euphonia Euphonia plumbeaBrazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.
Scrub euphonia Euphonia affinisBelize, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua and along the Atlantic coastal lowlands in Costa Rica.
Purple-throated euphoniaEuphonia chloroticaArgentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
Yellow-crowned euphonia Euphonia luteicapillaCosta Rica, Nicaragua, and Panama
Trinidad euphoniaEuphonia trinitatisColombia, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela.
Velvet-fronted euphonia Euphonia concinnaColombia
Orange-crowned euphonia Euphonia saturataColombia, Ecuador, and Peru
Finsch's euphonia Euphonia finschiBrazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname and eastern Venezuela.
Violaceous euphonia Euphonia violaceaTrinidad, Tobago and eastern Venezuela south to Paraguay and northeastern Argentina.
Thick-billed euphonia Euphonia laniirostrisBolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela.
Yellow-throated euphoniaEuphonia hirundinaceafrom Belize south to western Panama
Green-chinned euphonia Euphonia chalybeanortheastern Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay.
Elegant euphonia Euphonia elegantissimaBelize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama.
Antillean euphonia Euphonia musicaHispaniola, and Puerto Rico-
Golden-rumped euphonia Euphonia cyanocephalaArgentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela.
Spot-crowned euphonia Euphonia imitansCosta Rica and Panama.
Fulvous-vented euphonia Euphonia fulvicrissaColombia
Olive-backed euphonia Euphonia gouldisouthern Mexico to western Panama.
Bronze-green euphonia Euphonia mesochrysaBolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
White-lored euphonia Euphonia chrysopastaBolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.
White-vented euphoniaEuphonia minutasouthern 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 anneaeColombia, Costa Rica, and Panama.
Orange-bellied euphonia Euphonia xanthogasterBolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela.
Rufous-bellied euphonia Euphonia rufiventrisBolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.
Chestnut-bellied euphoniaEuphonia pectoralisArgentina, Brazil, and Paraguay.
Golden-sided euphonia Euphonia cayennensisBrazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname and eastern Venezuela.

The black-throated euphonia is now thought to be a hybrid between the chestnut-bellied euphonia and the orange-bellied euphonia.