Western Spindalis Spindalis zena Scientific name definitions

Western Spindalis is a colorful songbird found in the Bahamas, Cuba, Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, and Mexico; this and other spindalises endemic to other Caribbean islands were recently split from the "Stripe-headed Tanager."  Though it was formerly treated as a tanager, the relationship of the spindalises to other songbirds is unclear and they are currently placed incertae sedis among the nine-primaried oscines.  Western Spindalis males have black and white striped heads and burnished orange breasts, with black or olive backs and black and white wings; females are quite a bit less colorful, being drab brown or olive with weakly streaked underparts.

15 cm; 20·9–22·8 g (townsendi) (1 Steadman, D.W., Olson, S.L., Barber, J.C., Meister, C.A. and Melvill, M.E. (1980). Weights of some West Indian birds. Bull. Brit. Orn. Club. 100(2): 155–158. Close ), 17–25·5 g (nominate), 11–30 g (pretrei) (2 Jiménez, A., I. García-Lau, A. González, L. Mugica, and M. Acosta (2014) Valores de masa corporal de 183 especies de aves cubanas. Revista Cubana de Ciencias Biológicas 3:22–42. Close ), 20·5–31 g (salvini), 26·5–35·6 g (benedicti). Smallest spindalis, bill short and conical. Male nominate race has head and side of throat black, long white supercilium, broad white submoustachial area, white chin, bright yellow central throat; nuchal collar and chestband chestnut and rich yellow; mantle and upper back black, lower back tawny-yellow, rump and shorter uppertail-coverts darker golden-rufous, longer uppertail-coverts black; tail black with extensive white outer edges; scapulars and upperwing-coverts black, greater coverts with outer webs almost entirely white (coverts look mostly white), primary coverts black, flight-feathers and tertials black, small white patch at base of outer primaries (white on outer webs of a few feathers), otherwise flight-feathers sharply and narrowly edged with white, tertials more broadly edged white; mid-breast yellow, turning white on lower underparts; iris dark brown; bill blackish, basal half to two-thirds of lower mandible and base of upper mandible steel-grey; legs dark grey. Female is greyish olive above, with obscure whitish submoustachial; rump and uppertail-coverts paler brown than back, greater wing-coverts dusky, broadly edged whitish, flight-feathers dusky, narrowly edged whitish-olive, tertials dusky black, broadly edged whitish-olive, outer primaries with small white spot at base of feathers; tail dull olive-grey; throat and underparts unstreaked dirty greyish to buffy whitish. Juvenile is similar to female but much duller, with minimal pattern on foreparts. Race townsendi male differs from nominate in having nuchal collar tawny-rufous (not tawny), back dark olive-green mixed with dusky brown, lower back darker tawny-orange, scapulars duller, more dusky; pretrei male differs in bright olive-green back, brighter rump, paler tawny-yellow nuchal collar, paler tawny on chest, chestnut on lesser wing-coverts, median coverts broadly tipped olive-green, female differs in having long dull whitish supercilium, some yellow on underparts, and often a weak greyish malar stripe; salvini male is much like previous, but slightly larger, rump slightly darker, nuchal collar and chestband darker (more tawny-orange), and more extensively white on flanks and lower underparts; benedicti male most closely resembles nominate, but back deep yellowish-olive, scapulars sometimes partly blackish, lesser upperwing-coverts chestnut, and median coverts black, tipped with yellowish-olive.

Editor's Note: This article requires further editing work to merge existing content into the appropriate Subspecies sections. Please bear with us while this update takes place.

Occasional (several races) in Florida, USA, where has bred (2009) (3 Howell, S.N.G., Lewington, I. and Russell, W. (2014). Rare Birds of North America. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey & Oxford. Close ).

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EBIRD GROUP (MONOTYPIC)

Western Spindalis (Bahamas Black-backed) Spindalis zena zena Scientific name definitions

• eBird map
• 302 photos
• 12 recordings

Distribution

C and S Bahamas (including Berry Is, Andros, Green Cay, New Providence, Eleuthera, Cat I, Exuma, Long I, Acklin and Mayaguana) and Turks and Caicos Is.

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EBIRD GROUP (MONOTYPIC)

Western Spindalis (Bahamas Green-backed) Spindalis zena townsendi Scientific name definitions

• eBird map
• 125 photos
• 6 recordings

Distribution

N Bahamas (including Grand Bahama, Little Abaco, Abaco and offshore cays).

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EBIRD GROUP (MONOTYPIC)

Western Spindalis (Cuban) Spindalis zena pretrei Scientific name definitions

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• 526 photos
• 12 recordings

Distribution

(4 Dickinson, E. C., L. K. Overstreet, R. J. Dowsett, and M. D. Bruce (2011). Priority! The Dating of Scientific Names in Ornithology: A Directory to the Literature and its Reviewers. Aves Press, Northampton, UK. Close )Cuba and I of Pines.

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EBIRD GROUP (MONOTYPIC)

Western Spindalis (Grand Cayman I.) Spindalis zena salvini Scientific name definitions

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• 1 photos
• 1 recordings

Distribution

Grand Cayman I.

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EBIRD GROUP (MONOTYPIC)

Western Spindalis (Cozumel I.) Spindalis zena benedicti Scientific name definitions

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• 428 photos
• 17 recordings

Distribution

Cozumel I, off NE Yucatán Peninsula.

Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Lowlands to highlands, in wide range of fairly dry to humid regions. In Bahamas found in native pines (Pinus) and Australian pines (Casuarina) when breeding, and at other times can occur in almost all habitats, including scrub and densely vegetated habitats (coppice). On Cuba and I of Pines occurs from coast to mountains in open woodland, brushland, forest edges, second growth and mangroves, but not inside tall dense forest. Most numerous at middle and higher elevations. On Cozumel I mainly in disturbed, degraded and second-growth vegetation.

Resident, with some inter-island wandering. Occasional records at various extralimital localities. Up to c. 50 records (some unverifiable) from S Florida (SE USA), in all months except Jul, with greatest concentration in Apr, May and Dec (which may represent periods when more human observers afield); estimated 65% of Florida records are of males.

Feeds mainly on fruits and berries, also tips of soft leaves and other plant parts; once seen attempting to eat a snail (Gastropoda). In pairs when breeding; at other times in pairs and small groups, in past apparently also in larger groups. Forages from low in shrubs to high in trees.

Song high, thin, sibilant and rather variable, e.g. “see-tee” doublets mixed with high “seet” and reedy “deet” notes and sometimes with twittering notes; weak, but stronger during breeding season and usually delivered from top of high tree. A second song type described as a soft warbling series of notes given rapidly. Flight song a high, sibilant “seeet sit-t-t-t-t”. A faint whisper song also described. High, thin quality of vocalizations often makes this bird difficult to locate. Calls include high thin “seeip” and soft “tsit-tsit-tsit”.

Season Apr–Aug. In flight display, male flies up on slowly beating wings, circles above treetops while singing, then dives down to same or another perch; spread wing and tail feathers may make a noise during display. Thin, poorly constructed nest of palm fibres, placed low down or quite high up in bush or small to large tree. Clutch 2–3 eggs, white, covered with brownish dots, mean size 22 mm × 15 mm (pretrei), 23·5 mm × 16·5 mm (salvini). No other information.

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Uncommon to locally fairly common. Considered common in Bahamas and Cuba, fairly common on Grand Cayman I, and in small numbers on numerous other islands. Utilizes a variety of second-growth, disturbed and scrubby habitats, which buffers it against threats. In past reported to occur in large groups on Cuba, but populations there may have been much depleted as a result of trapping.