| Western Spindalis | |
|---|---|
| Male in Ciego de Avila Province, Cuba | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | See text |
| Genus: | Spindalis |
| Species: | S. zena |
| Binomial name | |
| Spindalis zena (Linnaeus, 1758) |
|
The Western Spindalis (Spindalis zena), formerly called the Stripe-headed Tanager, is a songbird species. S. zena formerly included other species of spindalis, as well.
The spindalises were traditionally considered aberrant tanager of the family Thraupidae, but like the equally enigmatic Bananaquit (Coereba flaveola), they are often treated as incertae sedis (place uncertain) among the nine-primaried oscines.
The species is found in the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, Cuba, and the Turks and Caicos Islands. It is a rare visitor of extreme southern Florida, where the subspecies zena successfully bred in 2009.
Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forest, and heavily degraded former forest. It is not considered a threatened species by the IUCN. The subspecies zena is found in pine forest of the northern Bahamas.