Pyrrhula
Genus of birds
title: "Pyrrhula" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["pyrrhula", "bird-genera", "fauna-of-the-palearctic-realm"] description: "Genus of birds" topic_path: "general/pyrrhula" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrrhula" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Genus of birds ::
| name = Bullfinches | image = Bullfinch male.jpg | image_caption = Eurasian bullfinch, Pyrrhula pyrrhula | taxon = Pyrrhula | authority = Brisson, 1760 | type_species = Loxia pyrrhula = Pyrrhula pyrrhula | type_species_authority = Linnaeus, 1758 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = See text.
Pyrrhula is a small genus of passerine birds, commonly called bullfinches, belonging to the finch family (Fringillidae). The genus has a Palearctic distribution; almost all species occur in Asia, with two species exclusively in the Himalayas and one species, P. pyrrhula, also occurring in Europe. The Azores bullfinch (P. murina) is a critically endangered species (about 120 pairs remaining), occurring only in the east of the island of São Miguel in the Azores archipelago.
The evolution of the bullfinch species started soon after the pine grosbeak's ancestors diverged from them (at the end of the Middle Miocene, about 12 mya), and it is quite possible that the latter species evolved in North America; what is fairly certain is that the bullfinch radiation started in the general area of the Himalayas. The mountain finches also seem to be part of this clade.
Bullfinches have glossy black wings and tail feathers. They show a white rump. The legs and feet are fleshy brown. Their short, swollen bill is adapted to eat buds, and is black except for the brown bullfinch, which has a grey or greenish-grey bill. The males can be distinguished by their orange or red breast. Some species have a black cap.
Taxonomy
The genus Pyrrhula was introduced in 1760 by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson. The name was derived by tautonymy from the binomial name of the Eurasian bullfinch Loxia pyrrhula introduced by Linnaeus in 1758.
The bullfinches in the genus Pyrrhula are sister to the pine grosbeak, the only species placed in the genus Pinicola.
Species
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/PyrrhulaKurilensisHart.jpg" caption="''P. p. griseiventris'' from the [[Kurile Islands]], illustrated by [[William Matthew Hart]], 1888"] ::
There are eight extant and one extinct recognized species in the genus: ::data[format=table]
| Image | Scientific name | Common name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| [[File:Pyrrhula aurantiaca 277035656 (cropped).jpg | 120px]] | Pyrrhula aurantiaca | Orange bullfinch |
| [[File:Grey-headed Bullfinch.jpg | 120px]] | Pyrrhula erythaca | Grey-headed bullfinch |
| Pyrrhula owstoni | Taiwan bullfinch (split from P. erythaca) | Taiwan | |
| [[File:Red-headed Bullfinch.jpg | 120px]] | Pyrrhula erythrocephala | Red-headed bullfinch |
| [[File:White-cheeked Bullfinch.jpg | 120px]] | Pyrrhula leucogenis | White-cheeked bullfinch |
| [[File:Pyrrhula murina.jpg | 120px]] | Pyrrhula murina | Azores bullfinch |
| [[File:Pyrrhula nipalensis.jpg | 120px]] | Pyrrhula nipalensis | Brown bullfinch |
| [[File:Bullfinch male.jpg | 120px]] | Pyrrhula pyrrhula | Eurasian bullfinch |
| :: |
- †Greater Azores bullfinch Pyrrhula crassa
References
References
- . ["Fringillidae"](https://www.aviansystematics.org/4th-edition-checklist?viewfamilies=196). *The Trust for Avian Systematics*.
- Brissons, M.J.. (1760). "Ornithologie, Volume 1". Chez C.J.-B. Bauche.
- (1968). "Check-list of birds of the world, Volume 14". Museum of Comparative Zoology.
- Linnaeus, C.. (1758). "Systema Naturæ per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis, Volume 1". Holmiae:Laurentii Salvii.
- (2001). "Pylogeography of crossbills, bullfinches, grosbeaks and rosefinches". Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences.
- (2012). "The phylogenetic relationships and generic limits of finches (Fringillidae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.
- "Finches, euphonias". International Ornithologists' Union.
- "Species Updates – IOC World Bird List".
- (2020). "Strict allopatric speciation of sky island ''Pyrrhula erythaca'' species complex". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.
- (2017). "A new extinct species of large bullfinch (Aves: Fringillidae: Pyrrhula) from Graciosa Island (Azores, North Atlantic Ocean)". Zootaxa.
- (1986). "Genetic relationships of North American cardueline finches". [[Condor (journal).
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