Buntings and New World Sparrows (Emberizidae)
Large Cactus-finch (Geospiza conirostris) - HBW 16, p. 681
French: Géospize à bec conique
German: Opuntiengrundfink
Spanish: Pinzón de Darwin Conirrostro
Other common names: (Large) Cactus Ground-finch
Taxonomy: Geospiza conirostris Ridgway, 1890, Española I (formerly Hood Island), Galapagos Islands.
Recent molecular-genetic research suggests that the Galapagos group consisting of present genus and Certhidea, Platyspiza and Camarhynchus, known collectively as “Darwin’s finches”, is allied to the tanagers (Thraupidae), being closest to Coereba, Tiaris and several Caribbean genera. On Genovesa (Tower), this species hybridizes rarely with G. magnirostris and sometimes with smaller G. difficilis. Genetic studies suggest that Española and Genovesa populations are rather distantly related, which would make present taxonomic arrangement para.. View all taxonomy...
Recent molecular-genetic research suggests that the Galapagos group consisting of present genus and Certhidea, Platyspiza and Camarhynchus, known collectively as “Darwin’s finches”, is allied to the tanagers (Thraupidae), being closest to Coereba, Tiaris and several Caribbean genera. On Genovesa (Tower), this species hybridizes rarely with G. magnirostris and sometimes with smaller G. difficilis. Genetic studies suggest that Española and Genovesa populations are rather distantly related, which would make present taxonomic arrangement paraphyletic; NW populations (darwini), however, not sampled, although those on Darwin (Culpepper) and Wolf (Wenman) similar in bill size to those on Genovesa. Three subspecies recognized.
Subspecies and Distribution:
- darwini Rothschild & E. J. O. Hartert, 1899 - Darwin I and Wolf I, in extreme NW Galapagos Is.
- propinqua Ridgway, 1894 - Genovesa, in N Galapagos Is.
- conirostris Ridgway, 1890 - Española, in SE Galapagos Is.
- Least Concern Enlarge map
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A male taking branches out of a hole to reach seeds Locality Española, Galapagos Islands (Monotypic species)
Anna Motis 24 August 2005 3 years ago 45 sec 4.4 -
A male reaching seeds from a hole among rocks Locality Española, Galapagos Islands (Monotypic species)
Anna Motis 24 August 2005 3 years ago 41 sec 4.3 -
A bird looking for food on the beach Locality Española, Galapagos Islands (ssp darwinii)
Peter van Dam 2 June 2005 4 years ago 45 sec 3.9 -
A bird feeding on a prickly pear Locality Genovesa, Galapagos Islands (ssp darwinii)
Anna Motis 19 August 2005 3 years ago 23 sec 3.6
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Foraging
Locality Española, Galapagos Islands
Photo-ay 14 August 2007 2 years ago 4 -
A female eating seeds on a rock.
Locality Española, Galapagos Islands (ssp conirostris)
Nick Athanas 23 November 2008 2 years ago 4
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Two birds singing Locality Española, Galapagos Islands
Andrew_Davis 14 June 2004 2 years ago 3
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