Canary Islands Chaffinch
Fringilla canariensis
Dapper little finch endemic to the Canarias, where it inhabits a range of habitats, from forests to farmlands. Handsome, brightly colored male has a blue-grayish cowl, pale orangish face and breast, and a black-and-white wing pattern (colors muted in winter). Female much drabber but shares male pattern; especially note the complex wing pattern. Both sexes have white outer tail feathers, often striking in flight such as when flushed. Song is a somewhat buzzy series of up-and-down notes; calls include a somewhat sparrow-like “dwee!”
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Fringilla canariensis
- Authority
- Vieillot, 1817
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Fringillidae
- Genus
- Fringilla
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Long-tailed Rosefinch
Carpodacus sibiricus
Large, plump finch of the boreal forest. Adult males are pink overall with two white wingbars and pale gray highlights. Immature males and females are not so bright but still subtly pretty; gray body with olive, yellow, or burnt-orange head and rump. Stubby bill with rounded edges. Song consists of rich, mellow warbles; listen for musical flight calls. Breeds in open coniferous forests. Winters in a variety of wooded habitats, especially around fruiting trees including crabapple and mountain ash. Often extremely tame, allowing close approach.
California Thrasher
Toxostoma redivivum
Long-tailed with long, slender bill that is sharply downcurved. Drab grayish-brown without any markings. Paler on throat; warmer orangey color on belly. Often hard to see when lurking in dense shrubs. Sings from prominent perches. Song is seemingly endless and complex. Forages primarily on the ground. Range restricted to dense brush and woodland in California and Baja California.
Gosling's Apalis
Apalis goslingi
A small, slender plain apalis with sooty-gray upperparts, pale gray underparts, a pale throat, and a shortish white-tipped gray-brown tail; eyes are red-brown. Juvenile is paler than adult, with dingy yellowish underparts. A local resident inhabiting middle levels of both primary and patchy degraded forest, especially along streams, in the northeast Congo Basin, where no similar apalises occur. Vocalizations include a rapid, monotonous strident “swit-swit-swit-swit” and “tet-tet-tet.”
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.