Cuban Bullfinch
Melopyrrha nigra
Endemic to Cuba. A small flocking species of brushy and wooded habitats. Note the stout bill with curved culmen, and the white slash along the front of the folded wing. Male is glossy black, female is very dark blackish-gray. No similar species occurs in its range. Song is a complex buzzy trill that drops in pitch and is followed by various chips and thin “tsi” notes. Calls include a hard chip, often rapidly doubled, and a high buzzy “tsit.”
Taxonomy
The Cuban bullfinch was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Loxia nigra. Linnaeus based his short description on Mark Catesby's "The Little Black Bullfinch" and Eleazar Albin's "Black Bullfinch ". The type location is Cuba. The specific epithet nigra is Latin meaning "black". The Cuban bullfinch is now one of three species placed in the genus Melopyrrha that was introduced in 1853 by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte. The Grand Cayman bullfinch (M. taylori) found on the Cayman Islands was once considered a subspecies, but is now considered a full species by IUCN and BirdLife International.
- Scientific name
- Melopyrrha nigra
- Authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Thraupidae
- Genus
- Melopyrrha
Range and habitat
The Cuban bullfinch (Melopyrrha nigra) is an endemic species found exclusively in Cuba. Its natural habitats include subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical or tropical moist montane forest, as well as heavily degraded former forests. The IUCN categorizes it as a near threatened species due to its vulnerable status.
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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