The Hispaniolan spindalis (''Spindalis dominicensis'') is one of four species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

in family

Spindalidae ''Spindalis'' is a genus consisting of four non-migratory species of bird. It is the only genus in the family Spindalidae. The species are mostly endemic to the West Indies; exceptions include populations of western spindalises on Cozumel Island ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to the Caribbean island of Hispaniola which is shared by Haiti and the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

Taxonomy and systematics

Historically, the genus ''Spindalis'' consisted of a single polytypic species, ''Spindalis zena'' (with the common name of stripe-headed tanager), with eight recognized subspecies. The genus was in the "true" tanager family

Thraupidae The tanagers (singular ) comprise the bird family Thraupidae, in the order Passeriformes. The family has a Neotropical distribution and is the second-largest family of birds. It represents about 4% of all avian species and 12% of the Neotropica ...

. Beginning in 1997, based primarily on morphological and vocalization differences, three of the subspecies were elevated to species status (including the Hispaniolan spindalis), and ''S. zena'' was renamed the western spindalis. Beginning in 2017, taxonomic systems moved the four spindalis species to the newly created family Spindalidae, which is not closely related to the tanagers. The Hispaniolan spindalis is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

Description

The Hispaniolan spindalis is about long and weighs . Adult males have a black head with a wide white supercilium and "moustache". It has a white chin and a bright yellow patch with black sides in the middle of the throat. Its nape is rich yellow, its back greenish to yellowish olive, its rump tawny yellow, and its uppertail

coverts A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which, as the name implies, cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts The ear coverts are s ...

chestnut. Its tail is black, with narrow white edges to the feathers. Its flight feathers are black with white edges, and the

wing covert A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which, as the name implies, cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts The ear coverts are sm ...

s chestnut, olive, and black. Its chest is deep chestnut, lightening to yellower chestnut on the sides and rich yellow on the breast. Its belly is white and the undertail coverts black. Adult females are generally grayish olive, with a grayer head, yellowish olive rump, dusky brown tail, and whitish underparts with dusky streaks. Juveniles resemble adult females, but are duller.Hilty, S. (2020). Hispaniolan Spindalis (''Spindalis dominicensis''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.hisspi.01 retrieved October 10, 2022

Distribution and habitat

The Hispaniolan spindalis is found throughout the main island of Hispaniola and on

Gonâve Island Gonâve Island or Zile Lagonav (french: Île de la Gonâve, ; also ''La Gonâve'') is an island of Haiti located west-northwest of Port-au-Prince in the Gulf of Gonâve. It is the largest of the Hispaniolan satellite islands. The island is an a ...

in Haiti's

Gulf of Gonâve The Gulf of Gonâve (french: Golfe de la Gonâve; ht, Gòf Lagonav) is a large gulf of the Caribbean Sea along the western coast of Haiti. Haiti's capital city, Port-au-Prince, is located on the coast of the gulf. Other cities on the gulf coast ...

. It inhabits a variety of humid forest habitats containing thickets and other low vegetation. It also occurs in orchards and plantations. It is found at almost any elevation but is most numerous in the highlands.

Behavior

Movement

The Hispaniolan spindalis is a year-round resident throughout its range, but makes local movements depending on the availability of fruit.

Feeding

The Hispaniolan spindalis feeds primarily on fruit of many varieties that it pecks open. It also feeds on flower buds, seeds, tender leaves, and insects. It forages from near the ground in bushes to the tops of fruiting trees. Though it typically forages in pairs or small groups, larger numbers may gather in a heavily fruited tree.

Breeding

The Hispaniolan spindalis' breeding season is mostly May to June ,though some pairs may raise a second brood after. It makes a small cup nest of dry grass in a tree or bush up to about above the ground. The clutch size is three eggs. Nothing else is known about the species' breeding biology.

Vocalization

As of late 2022

xeno-canto xeno-canto is a citizen science project and repository in which volunteers record, upload and annotate recordings of birdsong and bird calls. Since it began in 2005, it has collected over 575,000 sound recordings from more than 10,000 species w ...

had only two recordings of Hispaniolan spindalis vocalizations, and the

Cornell Lab of Ornithology The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is a member-supported unit of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, which studies birds and other wildlife. It is housed in the Imogene Powers Johnson Center for Birds and Biodiversity in Sapsucker Woods Sanctuar ...

Macaulay Library The Macaulay Library is the world's largest archive of animal sounds. It includes more than 33 million photographs, 1.2 million audio recordings, and over two hundred thousand videos covering 96 percent of the world's bird species. There are an eve ...

a few more. The male's dawn song is "a thin, high-pitched whistle, or a prolonged weak, sibilant 'tsee see see see'", sung from an exposed perch or inside dense foliage. Females sing a softer version of the male's song. The species' calls include "a high 'thseep'" and a "more drawn-out 'seeee'".

Status

The IUCN has assessed the Hispaniolan spindalis as being of Least Concern. It has a large range, and though its population size is unknown it is believed to be stable. No immediate threats have been identified. It is considered common. "Utilization of a variety of habitats, including second growth and brushy areas, buffers this species against near-term threats, despite its small world range."

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2226378 Hispaniolan Spindalis Endemic birds of the Caribbean Birds of Hispaniola Birds of the Dominican Republic Birds of Haiti Endemic birds of Hispaniola Hispaniolan spindalis Hispaniolan spindalis Taxonomy articles created by Polbot