Cuban Bullfinch
Melopyrrha nigra
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassAves (Birds)
- OrderPasseriformes (Perching Birds)
- FamilyThraupidae (Tanagers and Allies)
- GenusMelopyrrha (Greater Antillean Bullfinches)
- SpeciesMelopyrrha nigra (Cuban Bullfinch)
About the Cuban Bullfinch
The Cuban bullfinch (Melopyrrha nigra) is a Near Threatened species of bird in the family Thraupidae, the tanagers and allies. It is endemic to Cuba. The Cuban bullfinch has a complicated taxonomic history. It was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Loxia nigra. Linnaeus based his short description on Mark Catesby's "The Little Black Bullfinch" and Eleazar Albin's "Black Bullfinch ". The type location is Cuba. The specific epithet nigra is Latin meaning "black".
By 1970 the Cuban bullfinch had been assigned to the genus Melopyrrha that had been introduced in 1853 by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte. While most taxonomic systems retained it in Melopyrrha, in 2016 BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) moved it to genus Pyrrhulagra. In 2022 it moved it back to Melopyrrha. The Cuban bullfinch is now one of five species in Melopyrrha.
The Cuban bullfinch is monotypic. What is now the Grand Cayman bullfinch (M. taylori) was treated as a subspecies but was recognized as a full species by 2023. The Cuban... Wikipedia →
Recent sightings of Cuban Bullfinch in Ciénaga de Zapata
LIVEiNaturalistClosest Relatives at Ciénaga de Zapata
Yellow-faced Grassquit
Tiaris olivaceus
Cuban Grassquit
Phonipara canora
Red-legged Honeycreeper
Cyanerpes cyaneus
Bananaquit
Coereba flaveola
American Redstart
Setophaga ruticilla
Red-legged Thrush
Turdus plumbeus
Palm Warbler
Setophaga palmarum
Greater Antillean Grackle
Quiscalus niger
Cuban Pewee
Contopus caribaeus
Cuban Blackbird
Dives atroviolaceus
Tawny-shouldered Blackbird
Agelaius humeralis
Northern Parula
Setophaga americana
Global Distribution
Warmer areas are where this animal is recorded most often.
Parks Where Found
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ciénaga de Zapata | 🇨🇺 Cuba |
More parks will be added in future updates.
Quick answers
What are the chances of seeing a Cuban Bullfinch in Ciénaga de Zapata?
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Cuban Bullfinch sighting in Ciénaga de Zapata, based on 359 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data.
When is the best time to see Cuban Bullfinch in Ciénaga de Zapata?
January has the highest sighting rate for Cuban Bullfinch in Ciénaga de Zapata in our monthly data.