''Spindalis'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

consisting of four non-migratory species of bird. It is the only genus in the family Spindalidae. The species are mostly

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

to the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Great ...

; exceptions include populations of western spindalises on

Cozumel Island Cozumel (; yua, Kùutsmil) is an island and municipality in the Caribbean Sea off the eastern coast of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, opposite Playa del Carmen. It is separated from the mainland by the Cozumel Channel and is close to the Yu ...

, off the Yucatán Peninsula's east coast, and in extreme southeastern

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

. The species were traditionally considered aberrant members of the tanager family

Thraupidae The tanagers (singular ) comprise the bird family Thraupidae, in the order Passeriformes. The family has a Neotropical distribution and is the second-largest family of birds. It represents about 4% of all avian species and 12% of the Neotrop ...

. Taxonomic studies recover them as a

sister group In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and ...

to the

Puerto Rican tanager The Puerto Rican tanager (''Nesospingus speculiferus'') is a small passerine bird endemic to the archipelago of Puerto Rico. It is the only member of the genus ''Nesospingus'' and has historically been placed in the tanager family, but recent st ...

(family

Nesospingidae The Puerto Rican tanager (''Nesospingus speculiferus'') is a small passerine bird endemic to the archipelago of Puerto Rico. It is the only member of the genus ''Nesospingus'' and has historically been placed in the tanager family, but recent st ...

), and some group Spindalidae and Nesospingidae within the

Phaenicophilidae Phaenicophilidae is a family of passerine birds. It consists of three genera and four species, all endemic to Hispaniola, which have been traditionally placed in the families Thraupidae The tanagers (singular ) comprise the bird family Thra ...

. Males are characterized by bright plumage while females are duller and have a different coloration. The nests are cup-shaped.

Species

The genus contains four species:

Taxonomy

Historically, the genus consisted of a single

polytypic Polytypic means of more than one type. It often refers to: * Polytypic function, in computer science * Polytypic habitat, in ecology, a habitat not dominated by a single species * Polytypic taxon, in biology, a taxon with more than one immediatel ...

species, '' Spindalis zena'' (with the common name of stripe-headed tanager), with eight recognized subspecies—''S. z. townsendi'' and ''S. z. zena'' from the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the archi ...

, ''S. z. pretrei'' from

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, ''S. z. salvini'' from

Grand Cayman Grand Cayman is the largest of the three Cayman Islands and the location of the territory's capital, George Town. In relation to the other two Cayman Islands, it is approximately 75 miles (121 km) southwest of Little Cayman and 90 miles ( ...

, ''S. z. dominicensis'' from Hispaniola and

Gonâve Island Gonâve Island or Zile Lagonav (french: Île de la Gonâve, ; also ''La Gonâve'') is an island of Haiti located west-northwest of Port-au-Prince in the Gulf of Gonâve. It is the largest of the Hispaniolan satellite islands. The island is an a ...

, ''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''.

References

Sources

* Bird genera Passeroidea Taxa named by Sir William Jardine Taxa named by Prideaux John Selby {{Passeroidea-stub