In late July, a male and a female Western Spindalis (Spindalis zena) were found in South Florida. The male was heard singing. More about this pair will be discussed in other ABA publications in future months.
In 1997, a paper in the Wilson Bulletin, "Taxonomy of the stripe-headed tanager, genus Spindalis (Aves:Thraupidae) of the West Indies (O. M. Garrido et. al.) was published and it became the basis of the split of the former Stripe-headed Tanager into four species. To date, only Western Spindalis has been recorded in the ABA Area, all records from Florida, and all but one from South Florida (ABA Checklist, Seventh Edition, Pranty et. al.). Western Spindalis, however, occurs with different color variations; with band behind the back being black (S. z. zena), blackish olive-green (S. z. townsendi), and olive-green in other races. The yellow on the throat is broader and the rufous band across the upper breast is lacking on S. z. slvini and S. z. pretrei, The Tanagers, Natural History, Distribution, and Identification, Isler and Isler). The black-backed Central Bahamas subspecies is the most frequent visitor to Florida, but a description of the Everglades N.P. bird has not yet been posted. This ABA Code-3 species has been recorded in every month of the year in Florida.
Thanks for the modification and great background - any thoughts on whether the subspecies will ever be split?
Posted by: heidi | August 29, 2009 at 04:11 PM