FEATURE Description
The accompanying painting of a male Cuban finch by renowned artist, Howard Robinson - a member of our society, illustrates the distinctive coloration of an adult male. Unlike many other finch species the male and female are dimorphic (i.e. plumage colours are different). The female has dark chestnut-brown around the head instead of black, the yellow is paler, and its appearance is quite different to the male. Length 9cm.
Juveniles, which resemble females at the time of fledging, except for their short tail, usually cannot be sexed at that time except for young males, which often sport an odd black feather shortly after leaving the nest
The Genus Tiaris
The Cuban finch is one of five species in the genus Tiaris and the “only one that is well-known in aviculture” (Restall 2007). The five small tanager- finches, also known as grassquits, are: 1. Cuban finch T. canora 2. Black-faced grassquit T. bicolour omissa
3. Yellow-faced finch T. olivacea (formerly known as the olive finch) 4. Sooty grassquit T. fuliginosa 5. Dull-coloured grassquit T. obscura
Distribution and habitat
From the time of the ban on importation of exotic finches into Australia no wild caught Cuban finches have been introduced into our small gene pool of this popular species.
It is distributed in Cuba and nearby islands. In the wild it apparently frequents woodlands, pinewoods, coffee plantations, cultivated areas, house gardens and areas of grassland bordering fields. The average
BIRD SCENE 07
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