''Spindalis'' is a
genus consisting of four non-migratory species of bird. It is the only genus in the family Spindalidae. The species are mostly
endemic to the
West Indies; exceptions include populations of western spindalises on
Cozumel Island, off the Yucatán Peninsula's east coast, and in extreme southeastern
Florida. The species were traditionally considered aberrant members of the tanager family
Thraupidae. 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 t ...
to the
Puerto Rican tanager (family
Nesospingidae), 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 (''Phaenicophilus'') and Parulidae
The New World warbl ...
.
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 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, ''S. z. pretrei'' from
Cuba, ''S. z. salvini'' from
Grand Cayman, ''S. z. dominicensis'' from Hispaniola and
Gonâve Island, ''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