Saffron Finch
Sicalis flaveola
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassAves (Birds)
- OrderPasseriformes (Perching Birds)
- FamilyThraupidae (Tanagers and Allies)
- GenusSicalis (Yellow-Finches)
- SpeciesSicalis flaveola (Saffron Finch)
About the Saffron Finch
The saffron finch (Sicalis flaveola) is a tanager from South America that is common in open and semi-open areas in lowlands outside the Amazon Basin. They have a wide distribution in Colombia, northern Venezuela (where it is called "canario de tejado" or "roof canary"), western Ecuador, western Peru, eastern and southern Brazil (where it is called "canário-da-terra" or "native canary"), Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, northern Argentina, and Trinidad and Tobago. It has also been introduced to Hawaii, Panama, Puerto Rico, Jamaica and elsewhere. Although commonly regarded as a canary, it is not related to the Atlantic canary. Formerly, it was placed in the Emberizidae but it is close to the seedeaters.
The saffron finch was formally described in 1766 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the 12th edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Fringilla flaveola. The specific epithet is a diminutive of the Latin flavus meaning "golden" or "yellow". The type locality is Suriname. The saffron finch is now placed in the genus Sicalis that was introduced in 1828 by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie.
Five subspecies are recognised: S. f. flaveola (Linnaeus, 1766... Wikipedia →
Closest Relatives at Coiba National Park
Bananaquit
Coereba flaveola
Crimson-backed Tanager
Ramphocelus dimidiatus
Red-legged Honeycreeper
Cyanerpes cyaneus
Yellow-faced Grassquit
Tiaris olivaceus
Blue-gray Tanager
Thraupis episcopus
Streaked Saltator
Saltator striatipectus
Shining Honeycreeper
Cyanerpes lucidus
Variable Seedeater
Sporophila corvina
Palm Tanager
Thraupis palmarum
Buff-throated Saltator
Saltator maximus
Thick-billed Seed-Finch
Sporophila funerea
Blue-black Grassquit
Volatinia jacarina
Global Distribution
Warmer areas are where this animal is recorded most often.