Spindalis

Spindalis
Male Puerto Rican spindalis,
Spindalis portoricensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Cardinalidae
Genus: Spindalis
Jardine & Selby, 1837
Species

Spindalis dominicensis
Spindalis nigricephala
Spindalis portoricensis
Spindalis zena

Spindalis is a genus consisting of four non-migratory bird species. The genus is considered endemic to the Greater Antilles; a population on Cozumel Island, off the Yucatán Peninsula's east coast, is part of that island's West Indian fauna. Traditionally considered aberrant tanagers they are in the family Cardinalidae

Spindalis males are characterized by bright plumage while females are duller and have a different coloration.

The nests of Spindalis are cup-shaped.[1]

Historically, the genus consisted of a single polytypic species, Spindalis zena, with eight recognized subspecies—S. z. townsendi and S. z. zena from the Bahamas, S. z. pretrei from Cuba, S. z. salvini from Grand Cayman, S. z. dominicensis from Hispaniola and Gonâve Island, S. z. portoricensis from Puerto Rico, S. z. nigreciphala from Jamaica, and S. z. benedicti from Cozumel Island. In 1997, based primarily on morphological and vocalization differences, three of the subspecies (portoricensis, dominicensis and nigricephala) were elevated to species status. S. zena remained a polytypic species with five recognized subspecies—S. z. pretrei, S. z. salvini, S. z. benedicti, S. z. townsendi, and S. z. zena.[2]

References

Footnotes

  1. Garrildo et al., p.587.
  2. Garrildo et al., pp. 588–89.