Yellow-fronted canary explained

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 or the ‘’’green singer’’’.

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.^[1] The genus was therefore split and a number of species including the yellow-fronted canary were moved to the resurrected genus Crithagra Swainson 1827.^{[2] [3]}

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.^[4]

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

• Birds of The Gambia by Barlow, Wacher and Disley,
• Finches and Sparrows by Clement, Harris and Davis,

External links

• • • Yellow-fronted canary - Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds.

Notes and References

1. Zuccon . Dario . Prŷs-Jones . Robert . Rasmussen . Pamela C. . Ericson . Per G.P. . 2012 . The phylogenetic relationships and generic limits of finches (Fringillidae) . Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution . 62 . 2 . 581–596 . 10.1016/j.ympev.2011.10.002 . 22023825.
2. Web site: Gill . Frank . Donsker . David . Finches, euphonias . World Bird List Version 5.2. International Ornithologists' Union. 5 June 2015 .
3. Swainson . William . William John Swainson . 1827 . On several forms in ornithology not hitherto defined . Zoological Journal . 3 . 348 .
4. Book: Hawaii Audubon Society. Hawaii's Birds. 2005. Hawaii Audubon Society. 1889708003. 6th. Honolulu. 64201016. registration.