Wilkins's Finch

Nesospiza wilkinsi

A chunky olive-yellow finch with a hefty grosbeak-like bill. Male typically has a paler base to the bill and female is smaller, duller, and streakier. Uncommon, preferring wooded portions of Nightingale Island, to which it is endemic. Sings a repeated “whut-preeu,” deeper and slower than the song of Nightingale Island Finch; female answers with a whistle. The much smaller and commoner Nightingale Island Finch has a thinner, daintier bill than Wilkins’s and occurs throughout the island.

Taxonomy

Scientific name
Nesospiza wilkinsi
Authority
Lowe, 1923
Order
Passeriformes
Family
Thraupidae
Genus
Nesospiza

Range and habitat

Migration
Resident species

Conservation

Population trend
declining

Photos

Distribution

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