The yellow-fronted canary (''Crithagra mozambica'') is a small

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by t ...

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 lightweigh ...

in the

finch The true finches are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. Finches have stout conical bills adapted for eating seeds and nuts and often have colourful plumage. They occupy a great range of habitats where they are usua ...

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

. It is sometimes known in

aviculture Aviculture is the practice of keeping and breeding birds, especially of wild birds in captivity. Types There are various reasons that people get involved in aviculture. Some people breed birds to preserve a species. Some people breed parrots a ...

as the green singing finch. The yellow-fronted canary was formerly placed in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

Serinus ''Serinus'' is a genus of small birds in the finch family Fringillidae found in Europe and Africa. The birds usually have some yellow in their plumage. The genus was introduced in 1816 by the German naturalist Carl Ludwig Koch. Its name is New L ...

'', but phylogenetic analysis using

mitochondrial A mitochondrion (; ) is an organelle found in the cells of most Eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and fungi. Mitochondria have a double membrane structure and use aerobic respiration to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is use ...

and nuclear DNA sequences found that genus to be

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage of organisms or other evolving elements that is of mixed evolutionary origin. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which are explained as a result of converg ...

. The genus was therefore split and a number of species including the yellow-fronted canary were moved to the resurrected genus ''

Crithagra ''Crithagra'' is a genus of small passerine birds in the finch family (Fringillidae). They live in Africa and Arabia. The species in this genus were formerly assigned to the genus ''Serinus'', but phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial and nucle ...

'' Swainson 1827. This bird is a resident breeder in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

south of the

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. Its

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

is open woodland and cultivation. It

nest A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of organic materia ...

s in

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

s, laying three or four eggs in a compact cup nest. It has been introduced to the

Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kur ...

, where it is found on western

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

, southeastern

Oahu Oahu () (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering place#Island of Oʻahu as The Gathering Place, Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over t ...

and

Molokai Molokai , or Molokai (), is the fifth most populated of the eight major islands that make up the Hawaiian Islands, Hawaiian Islands archipelago in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is 38 by 10 miles (61 by 16 km) at its greatest length an ...

. The yellow-fronted canary is a common, gregarious seedeater. It is 11–13 cm in length. The adult male has a green back and brown wings and tail. The underparts and rump are yellow, and the head is yellow with a grey crown and nape and a black malar stripe. The female is similar, but with a weaker head pattern and duller underparts. Juveniles are greyer than the female, especially on the head. Its song is a warbled ''zee-zeree-chereeo''.

Subspecies

*''Crithagra mozambica mozambica'': coastal Kenya and Mafia Island (Tanzania) south to Zimbabwe, Mozambique, eastern and southeastern Botswana, and northeastern South Africa (North West and Limpopo to Free State) *''Crithagra mozambica punctigula'': Cameroon (north to Toukte, Grand Capitaine and Koum) *''Crithagra mozambica caniceps'': Senegal to Cameroon (south to Benue plain) *''Crithagra mozambica tando'': Gabon to north Angola and south west Democratic Republic of the Congo; introduced São Tomé island, São Tomé and Príncipe *''Crithagra mozambica vansoni'': Extreme south east Angola and adjacent Namibia to north Botswana, south west Zambia *''Crithagra mozambica barbata'': southern Chad, Central African Republic, western Sudan, western and southern South Sudan, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, southwestern Kenya, and central Tanzania *''Crithagra mozambica samaliyae'': SE Democratic Republic of the Congo to sw Tanzania and adjacent Zambia *''Crithagra mozambica grotei'': southeastern Sudan (east of the Nile), eastern South Sudan, and western and southwestern Ethiopia *''Crithagra mozambica gommaensis'': Eritrea and northwestern and central Ethiopia *''Crithagra mozambica granti'': eastern South Africa (Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal south to Eastern Cape), eastern Eswatini, and southern Mozambique

References

* ''Birds of The Gambia'' by Barlow, Wacher and Disley, * ''Finches and Sparrows'' by Clement, Harris and Davis,

External links

* * * Yellow-fronted canary
Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds
{{Taxonbar, from=Q27075822

yellow-fronted canary The yellow-fronted canary (''Crithagra mozambica'') is a small passerine bird in the finch family. It is sometimes known in aviculture as the green singing finch. The yellow-fronted canary was formerly placed in the genus '' Serinus'', but phy ...

Birds of Sub-Saharan Africa