ABSTRACT
The cardinal grosbeaks form a group of New World songbirds that have large bills and are often brightly colored. Most forests in the Western Hemisphere have at least one cardinal grosbeak, and terra firme forest at the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project (BDFFP) is no exception with two regularly occurring year-round residents. Cardinal grosbeaks exhibit either Complex Basic or Complex Alternate Strategies. The extent of the preformative molt is variable across and within species, ranging from partial to incomplete or eccentric to complete. Some species are thought to have an extra molt between the prejuvenile and preformative, known as the auxiliary preformative. The prealternate molt, when present, is also quite variable, although usually limited to partial. Exceptions include Dolichonyx oryzivorus, which is one of two North American species that has a complete prealternate molt, and Passerina cyanea has been documented with an eccentric prealternate molt.
