Western Spindalis Spindalis zena
(aka Stripe-headed Tanager)
Male Stripe-headed Tanager, La Güira, Cuba, February 2005 - click on image for a larger view Cuba
February 2005

The Western Spindalis is distributed in the Bahamas, Cuba, Grand Cayman Island and Cozumel. See the distribution map at Birdlife International. The sub-species shown here is S. z. pretrei. It is found in forest and woodland.

Male Stripe-headed Tanager, Cayo Coco, Cuba, February 2005 - click on image for a larger view The male has very distinctive orange, olive-brown, black and white markings above while below it has an orange throat and breast, otherwise pale grey. The female (photos 3 and 4) is olive-grey above with a pale supercilium and moustachial stripe with pale grey-brown below.

It feeds on seeds, small fruits and insects.

Sometimes regarded as a tanager, the HBW and Birdlife International checklist places it in a family of 4 species, the Spindalises.

Female Stripe-headed Tanager, Cayo Coco, Cuba, February 2005 - click on image for a larger view
Female Stripe-headed Tanager, Cayo Coco, Cuba, February 2005 - click on image for a larger view
Previous Page Back to Index Next Page

If you do not see a menu on the left, you may have arrived at this page from another site. Please click Home to get to my main page.
Fatbirder's Top 1000 Birding Websites