Spindalis

Taxobox
name = "Spindalis"

---

image_width = 220px
image_caption = Male Puerto Rican Spindalis, "Spindalis portoricensis"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
subphylum = Vertebrata
classis = Aves
ordo = Passeriformes
familia = see text
genus = "Spindalis"
genus_authority = Jardine and Selby, 1837
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision = "Spindalis dominicensis" "Spindalis nigricephala" "Spindalis portoricensis" "Spindalis zena"

"Spindalis" is a genus comprised of 4 non-migratory bird species. The genus is considered endemic to the Greater Antilles; a population on Cozumel Island, off the Yucatan Peninsula's east coast, is part of that island's West Indian fauna. Traditionally considered aberrant tanagers (Thraupidae), their true affiliation remains unresolved. They are not part of the Thraupidae however.

"Spindalis" males are characterized by bright plumage while females are duller and have a different coloration.

The nests of "Spindalis" are cup-shaped. [Garrildo, et al, p.587.]

* Western Spindalis, "Spindalis zena"
* Puerto Rican Spindalis, "Spindalis portoricensis"
* Hispaniolan Spindalis, "Spindalis dominicensis"
* Jamaican Spindalis, "Spindalis nigricephala"

Historically, the genus consisted of a single polytypic species, "Spindalis zena", with eight recognized subspecies—"S. z. townsendi" and "S. z. zena" from the Bahamas,"S. z. pretrei" from Cuba, "S. z. salvini" from Grand Cayman, "S. z. dominicensis" from Hispaniola and Gonave Island, "S. z. portoricensis" from Puerto Rico, "S. z. nigreciphala" from Jamaica, and "S. z. benedicti" from Cozumel Island. In 1997, based primarily on morphological and vocalization differences, three of the subspecies (portoricensis, dominicensis and nigricephala) were elevated to species status. "S. zena" remained a polytypic species with five recognized subspecies—"S. z. pretrei", "S. z. salvini", "S. z. benedicti", "S. z. townsendi", and "S. z. zena". [Garrildo, et al, p.588-89.]

References

*cite journal |author=O. H. Garrildo, K. C. Parkes, G. B. Reynard, A. Kirkcornell, and R. Sutton |year=1997 |month=December |title=Taxonomy of the Stripe-Headed Tanager, genus "Spindalis" (Aves:Thraupidae) of the West Indies |journal=The Wilson Bulletin |volume=109 |issue=4 |pages=561–594 |id= |format = djvu |url=http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Wilson/DJVU/v109n04/P0561-P0594.djvu |accessdate=2006-09-30

Footnotes