Lemon-breasted Seedeater
Crithagra citrinipectus
A small gray-brown seedeater with a lemon-yellow rump, white tail tips, and a boldly marked face with pale patches (white to lemon-yellow) above and below the eye. The throat and upper breast are lemon-yellow in the male and buff in the female. Pairs and small flocks occupy savanna, grassland, and palm savanna, where the species is partial to Ilala Palm. It forages on the ground and in small shrubs and grass. The similar Yellow-fronted Canary is yellower, has a broader eyebrow, and lacks wingbars and the vertical dark stripe below the eye.
Identification
Although their common name would indicate that each lemon-breasted canary indeed has a yellow throat/chest, this is not the case between males and females, making them easy to differentiate. Only the males have the signature yellow feathers in the breast region. The females have mostly cream and brown feathers, less distinct head markings. However, both sexes have noticeably yellow rumps around the tail feathers and bicolored beaks, the upper part being darker brown/black than the lower part. In addition, males also have white and yellow cheek patches and two yellow and white dots above their beaks. Nestlings of this species show yellow beak edges. There are no known subspecies, however there are small differences between canaries of different regions.
Taxonomy
The lemon-breasted canary was identified as species in 1960 by Clancey and Lawson from a type obtained near Panda, in Inhambane Province of southern Mozambique. Research involving mitochondrial DNA analysis suggests that this species along with S. leucopygia, S. mozambicus, and S. dorsostriatus belong in a separate genus, Ochrospiza, as they have been revealed to be only distantly related to other African members of the present genus, Serinus. However, before a revision can be made, a detailed inspection of all the taxa in the current genus is necessary. Some consider this species to be a hybrid between S. atrogularis and S. mozambicus.<p>The lemon-breasted canary was formerly placed in the genus Serinus but phylogenetic analysis using mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences found that the genus was polyphyletic. The genus was therefore split and a number of species including the lemon-breasted canary were moved to the resurrected genus Crithagra.
- Scientific name
- Crithagra citrinipectus
- Authority
- (Clancey & Lawson, 1960)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Fringillidae
- Genus
- Crithagra
Range and habitat
The lemon-breasted canary resides in southeastern Africa, far south of the equator, and sometimes in the same areas in which Serinus mozambicus — commonly known as the greensinger — is also found. They live in mostly dry areas such as grasslands with sporadic low vegetation and at the boundaries of woody areas. They build their nests mostly (and preferably) in specific species of palms, using the brown fibers of the palms to help construct the outside of the nests, though the inside is lined with softer materials.
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
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