- Loxigilla noctis
Includes Barbados Bullfinch
Identification
Overall black to slate-gray color, interrupted by rufous on the throat, just in front of eye, and in most races on undertail coverts (undertail black in Martinique and St. Lucia). The female is a sandy gray-brown with rufous coloring to the wings and tail and greyish underparts. The head of the female is the same color as the mantle. Legs in both sexes are greyish to black, not pink.
Male has black bill in most areas, while female has lower mandible yellowish to pale horn; in Barbados, males are dusky horn both upper and lower mandible (and has plumage like female) while females show pale horn on lower mandible.
Similar species
In St. Lucia, the St. Lucia Black Finch is a species that could be mistaken for Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, however, the black finch has pink legs (more prominent in the male), a heavier beak, has a habit of bobbing its tail up and down, and are more often found low in dense vegetation. The male is entirely without rufous, while the female has gray on its head in contrast to brown back.
Distribution
Photographed in Barbados.
Females of other populations look similar to this.
Used to be endemic to the Lesser Antilles but has now spread to the US Virgin Islands (part of the Puerto Rico bank) and is a vagrant to Puerto Rico. It is absent from the Grenadines but present on Grenada.
Taxonomy
A reassignment of this and similar species to the tanagers have been proposed, but it is currently placed in the Emberizidae.
The Lesser Antillean Bullfinch is divided into eight subspecies. Clements and the AOU have split the Barbados form as Loxigilla barbadensis, Barbados Bullfinch, endemic to the island of Barbados. The basis for the split is that the Barbados birds have no male plumage type; just a drab brown plumage as females on the other islands.
Subspecies[1]
- L. n. coryi:
- L. n. ridgwayi:
- Lesser Antilles (Anguilla, St. Martin, Barbuda and Antigua)
- L. n. desiradensis:
- Désirade Island (Lesser Antilles)
- L. n. dominicana:
- Guadeloupe, Marie Galante, Dominica and Iles des Saintes
- L. n. noctis:
- L. n. sclateri:
- L. n. crissalis:
- L. n. grenadensis:
- L. n. barbadensis = Barbados Bullfinch
Habitat
Dense and semi-open vegetation, often around houses.
Barbados Bullfinch is often seen in areas with high grass and is seen feeding on the seeds produced from such vegetation.
Behaviour
Often incredibly tame, well known for stealing nuts and sugar in outdoor restaurants.
References
- Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
- Birdforum thread discussing Barbados Bullfinch
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Lesser Antillean Bullfinch. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 23 November 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Lesser_Antillean_Bullfinch
External Links
