Dickcissel
Spiza americana
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassAves (Birds)
- OrderPasseriformes (Perching Birds)
- FamilyCardinalidae (Cardinals and Allies)
- GenusSpiza (Dickcissels)
- SpeciesSpiza americana (Dickcissel)
About the Dickcissel
The dickcissel (Spiza americana) is a small seed-eating migratory bird in the family Cardinalidae. It breeds on the prairie grasslands of the Midwestern United States and winters in Central America, northern Colombia, and northern Venezuela. It is the only member of the genus Spiza, though some sources list another supposedly extinct species.
The dickcissel was formally described in 1789 by German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin under the binomial name Emberiza americana. Gmelin based his account on the "black-throated bunting" that the Welsh naturalist Thomas Pennant had described and illustrated in 1785 in his Arctic Zoology. The dickcissel is now the only species placed in the genus Spiza that was introduced in 1824 by French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte. The genus name Spiza is the Ancient Greek word for a common type of finch, now assumed to be a chaffinch. The species is monotypic; no subspecies are recognised.
The dickcissel is part of a group of the Cardinalidae that also includes Amaurospiza, Cyanocompsa, Cyanoloxia, and Passerina. Spiza is the only one among these that lacks blue structural colors in its plumage. Though the color pattern and habits... Wikipedia →
Closest Relatives at Tikal National Park
Summer Tanager
Piranga rubra
Red-crowned Ant-Tanager
Habia rubica
Gray-throated Chat
Granatellus sallaei
Blue Bunting
Cyanocompsa parellina
Indigo Bunting
Passerina cyanea
Rose-throated Tanager
Piranga roseogularis
Black-faced Grosbeak
Caryothraustes poliogaster
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Pheucticus ludovicianus
Painted Bunting
Passerina ciris
Blue Grosbeak
Passerina caerulea
Blue-black Grosbeak
Cyanocompsa cyanoides
Scarlet Tanager
Piranga olivacea
Global Distribution
Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.
where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is) · parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there
Parks Where Found
Quick answers
What are the chances of seeing a Dickcissel in Tikal National Park?
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Dickcissel sighting in Tikal National Park, based on 17 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data.
When is the best time to see Dickcissel in Tikal National Park?
April has the highest sighting rate for Dickcissel in Tikal National Park in our monthly data.