Saffron Finch Sicalis flaveola Brazilian name: canário-da-terra-verdadeiro |
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Brazil and Peru
The Saffron Finch is a common bird of open and semi-open areas in lowlands outside the Amazon Basin. There are three separate populations: northern Colombia and Venezuela; Ecuador and Peru and north-east Brazil to central Argentina. See the distribution map at Birdlife International. |
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The male is bright yellow with an orange crown which distinguishes it from other yellow finches in the continent. The female are more confusing as they can sometimes be just a duller version of the male but the female of the sub-species S. f. pelzelni, as seen in photos 2 and 5, is olive-brown with heavy dark streaks. The immature male has the yellow showing through as can be seen in photo 3. | |||
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They nest in cavities and make use of sites such as abandoned Rufous Hornero (Furnarius rufus) nests and house roofs.
They have a pleasant but repetitious song which, combined with their appearance, has led to them being kept as caged birds in many areas. According to Sick, they are also used in fights where two males are placed in a large cage and bets are taken on which one wins the fight. Sounds very unpleasant. |
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Photo 6 was taken at Tarapoto, San Martin, Peru which is well outside its range so this bird is presumably an
escaped cage bird.
The bird in photo 1 was recorded by Jeremy Minns. |
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This eighth photo taken in Minas Gerais shows a male with a very dark face. | |||
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