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.

Yellow-fronted canary
Crithagra mozambica tando
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Fringillidae
Subfamily: Carduelinae
Genus: Crithagra
Species:
C. mozambica
Binomial name
Crithagra mozambica
(Müller, 1776)
Synonyms

Serinus mozambicus

The yellow-fronted canary was formerly placed in the genus Serinus, but phylogenetic analysis using mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences found that genus to be polyphyletic.[2] The genus was therefore split and a number of species including the yellow-fronted canary were moved to the resurrected genus Crithagra Swainson 1827.[3][4]

This bird is a resident breeder in Africa south of the Sahara Desert. Its habitat is open woodland and cultivation. It nests in trees, laying three or four eggs in a compact cup nest. It has been introduced to the Hawaiian Islands, where it is found on western Hawaii, southeastern Oahu and Molokai.[5]

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
  1. BirdLife International (2018). "Crithagra mozambica". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T22720181A131998999. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22720181A131998999.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. Zuccon, Dario; Prŷs-Jones, Robert; Rasmussen, Pamela C.; Ericson, Per G.P. (2012). "The phylogenetic relationships and generic limits of finches (Fringillidae)" (PDF). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 62 (2): 581–596. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2011.10.002. PMID 22023825.
  3. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David (eds.). "Finches, euphonias". World Bird List Version 5.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  4. Swainson, William (1827). "On several forms in ornithology not hitherto defined". Zoological Journal. 3: 348.
  5. Hawaii Audubon Society (2005). Hawaii's Birds (6th ed.). Honolulu: Hawaii Audubon Society. ISBN 1889708003. OCLC 64201016.
  • Birds of The Gambia by Barlow, Wacher and Disley, ISBN 1-873403-32-1
  • Finches and Sparrows by Clement, Harris and Davis, ISBN 0-7136-8017-2
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