Buntings and New World Sparrows (Emberizidae)
Greater Antillean Bullfinch (Loxigilla violacea) - HBW 16, p. 673
French: Pèrenoir petit-coq
German: Rotsteiß-Gimpelfink
Spanish: Semillero Prieto
Other common names: Jamaican Bullfinch (ruficollis)
Taxonomy: Loxia violacea Linnaeus, 1758, America = Bahamas.
Genus may belong in tanager family (Thraupidae); appears to be part of a clade which also includes several other Caribbean genera (Euneornis, Loxipasser, Melopyrrha, Melanospiza), Tiaris grassquits, Bananaquit (Coereba flaveola), and “Darwin’s finches” (Certhidea, Platyspiza, Pinaroloxias, Camarhynchus, Geospiza). Several races differ almost exclusively on size, and validity questionable. Proposed race parishi (described from I à Vache) supposedly differs on smaller size, but measurements do not confirm .. View all taxonomy...
Genus may belong in tanager family (Thraupidae); appears to be part of a clade which also includes several other Caribbean genera (Euneornis, Loxipasser, Melopyrrha, Melanospiza), Tiaris grassquits, Bananaquit (Coereba flaveola), and “Darwin’s finches” (Certhidea, Platyspiza, Pinaroloxias, Camarhynchus, Geospiza). Several races differ almost exclusively on size, and validity questionable. Proposed race parishi (described from I à Vache) supposedly differs on smaller size, but measurements do not confirm this; birds of Beata (and previously those of Catalina) sometimes allotted to this race. Birds of Gonâve and Saona sometimes placed in maurella. Five subspecies tentatively recognized.
Subspecies and Distribution:
- violacea (Linnaeus, 1758) - most of the larger islands in Bahamas.
- ofella Buden, 1986 - Middle and East Caicos Is (S Bahamas).
- affinis (Ridgway, 1898) - Hispaniola, and offshore islands of Gonâve, à Vache, Beata, Catalina and Saona.
- violacea (Linnaeus, 1758) - most of the larger islands in Bahamas.
- ofella Buden, 1986 - Middle and East Caicos Is (S Bahamas).
- affinis (Ridgway, 1898) - Hispaniola, and offshore islands of Gonâve, à Vache, Beata, Catalina and Saona.
- maurella Wetmore, 1929 - Tortue I (off NW Hispaniola).
- ruficollis (J. F. Gmelin, 1789) - Jamaica.
- Least Concern Enlarge map
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A bird feeding and flying away Locality Sierra de Bahoruco, Dominican Republic (ssp maurella)
DAVID ASCANIO 30 April 2007 5 years ago 6 sec 4.9 -
A bird feeding on small fruits and defecating once Locality Sierra de Bahoruco, Dominican Republic (ssp maurella)
DAVID ASCANIO 30 April 2007 5 years ago 28 sec 4.6 -
A bird perched and feeding, opening fruits with its bill Locality Sierra de Bahoruco, Dominican Republic (ssp maurella)
DAVID ASCANIO 30 April 2007 5 years ago 40 sec 4.4 -
a male foraging Locality Zapotén, Sierra de Bahoruco, Dominican Republic
DAVID ASCANIO 15 April 2010 2 years ago 21 sec 2.7
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A perched male.
Locality Blue Mountains, Jamaica (ssp ruficollis)
Ken Havard 12 March 2012 1 year ago 3 -
Perched on a thin branch.
Locality Bluefields Mountains, Cornwall County, Jamaica (ssp ruficollis)
Ken Simonite 6 January 2012 1 year ago 3 -
Perched male
Locality Port Antonio, Surrey County, Jamaica (ssp ruficollis)
John Hopkins 28 January 2011 2 years ago 2.5
- No sound recordings available yet
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