Greater Antillean bullfinch

Greater Antillean bullfinch
Male M. v. affinis, Dominican Republic
Female M. v. violacea, Bahamas
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Thraupidae
Genus: Melopyrrha
Species:
M. violacea
Binomial name
Melopyrrha violacea
(Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms

See text

The Greater Antillean bullfinch (Melopyrrha violacea) is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae, the tanagers and allies. It is found in the Bahamas, Hispaniola (the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and their offshore islands), Jamaica, and the Turks and Caicos Islands.[2]

Taxonomy and systematics

The Greater Antillean bullfinch has a complicated taxonomic history. It was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Loxia violacea.[3] The specific epithet violacea is from Latin violaceus meaning "violet-colored".[4] Linnaeus based his description on "The Purple Gross-beak" that had been described and illustrated by Mark Catesby in 1731.[5] The type locality is the Bahamas.[6] The species was later placed in the genus Loxigilla.[6]

A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2014 found that Loxigilla was polyphyletic and in the subsequent rearrangement, by 2020 most taxonomic systems had moved the Greater Antillean bullfinch and the Puerto Rican bullfinch to Melopyrrha.[7][8][9][10] In 2016 BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) had moved the two species to genus Pyrrhulagra but in 2022 moved them to Melopyrrha.[11][12]

As of late 2025 the Greater Antillean bullfinch's further taxonomy remained unsettled. The IOC, AviList, and HBW assign it these five subspecies:[2][13][14]

However, as of late 2025 the Clements taxonomy included M. v. ofella within the nominate M. v. violacea and recognizes M. v. parishi which the others include within M. v. affinis.[15]

This article includes data on all six subspecies.

Description

The Greater Antillean bullfinch is 13.2 to 17.5 cm (5.2 to 6.9 in) long and weighs 18 to 32.4 g (0.63 to 1.1 oz). The species is sexually dimorphic though not dramatically so. Adult males of the nominate M. v. violacea are black except for a short red-orange supercilium and red-orange throat and undertail coverts. Adult females are a duller, more slaty black than males, especially on their upperparts.[16]

The other subspecies of the Greater Antillean bullfinch differ little from the nominate. M. v. affinis is smaller and glossier and M. v. maurella is larger than affinis and glossier than the nominate. Subspecies M. v. ruficollis differs the most; it is larger, grayer, and duller than the nominate with a paler supercilium and throat.[16] M. v. ofella is the smallest subspecies but otherwise like the nominate. M. v. parishi is described as smaller than the nominate "but this is not confirmed by any measurements of topotypes".[17] Both sexes of all subspecies have a dark iris, a short, thick dark gray bill, and dusky legs and feet.[16]

Distribution and habitat

Even when they agree on the subspecies of the Greater Antillean bullfinch, sources differ on some of their ranges:

The Greater Antillean bullfinch inhabits "[d]ense thickets and undergrowth at all elevations from dry coastal scrub to wet mountain forests, including gardens".[18] Other sources say its elevational ceiling is 2,000 m (6,600 ft).[16][19]

Behavior

Movement

The Greater Antillean bullfinch is a sedentary year-round resident.[16][18]

Feeding

The Greater Antillean bullfinch feeds primarily on fruits and seeds but also includes flowers and snails in its diet. It usually feeds in dense vegetation and probably on or near the ground.[16]

Breeding

The Greater Antillean bullfinch breeds from March to beyond June. It usual nest is a sphere with a side entrance; sometimes it is an open cup. The nest is made from twigs and leaves lined with bromeliads and other fine plant parts. It is placed in a tree cavity, on a branch, in a shrub, or in a clump of grass. The clutch is three or four eggs that are very pale bluish white with red- and yellow-brown markings. The incubation period, time to fledging, and details of parental care are not known.[16]

Vocalization

The Greater Antillean bullfinch's voice is a "[s]hrill, insect-like t'zeet, t'seet, t'seet, tseet, seet, seet, seet, seet, seet". It also makes a "thin spit".[18]

Status

The IUCN has assessed the Greater Antillean bullfinch as being of Least Concern. It has a large range; its population size is not known but is believed to be stable. No immediate threats have been identified.[1] It is considered common on most of the larger islands in its range.[18] The "status of populations on smaller islands [are] not known".[16]

References

  1. 1 2 BirdLife International (2022). "Greater Antillean Bullfinch Melopyrrha violacea". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2022 e.T22723628A219198969. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-2.RLTS.T22723628A219198969.en. Retrieved 29 August 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (April 2026). "Tanagers and allies". IOC World Bird List. v 15.2. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
  3. ↑ Linnaeus, Carl (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1 (10th ed.). Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii. p. 176.
  4. ↑ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 402. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  5. ↑ Catesby, Mark (1729–1732). The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands (in English and French). Vol. 1. London: W. Innys and R. Manby. p. 40, Plate 40.
  6. 1 2 Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, ed. (1970). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 13. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 188.
  7. ↑ Burns, K.J.; Shultz, A.J.; Title, P.O.; Mason, N.A.; Barker, F.K.; Klicka, J.; Lanyon, S.M.; Lovette, I.J. (2014). "Phylogenetics and diversification of tanagers (Passeriformes: Thraupidae), the largest radiation of Neotropical songbirds". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 75: 41–77. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2014.02.006. PMID 24583021.
  8. ↑ R. Terry Chesser, Kevin J. Burns, Carla Cicero, Jon L. Dunn, Andrew W. Kratter, Irby J. Lovette, Pamela C. Rasmussen, J. V. Remsen, Jr., Douglas F. Stotz, Benjamin M. Winger, and Kevin Winker. "Fifty-ninth supplement to the American Ornithological Society's Check-list of North American Birds". The Auk 2018, vol. 135:798-813 retrieved December 13, 2022
  9. ↑ Clements, J. F., et al. 2018. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2018
  10. ↑ Gill, F, D Donsker, and P Rasmussen (Eds). 2020. IOC World Bird List (v 10.2). Doi 10.14344/IOC.ML.10.2. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/
  11. ↑ BirdLife International (2016) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. [Old] Version 9. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/BirdLife_Checklist_Version_90.zip.
  12. ↑ HBW and BirdLife International (2022) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 7. Available at: https://datazone.birdlife.org/about-our-science/taxonomy retrieved December 13, 2022
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 AviList Core Team (2025). "AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025". Retrieved 11 June 2025.
  14. ↑ HBW and BirdLife International (2025). Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 10. Available at: https://datazone.birdlife.org/about-our-science/taxonomy#birdlife-s-taxonomic-checklist retrieved 12 October 2025
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Clements, J. F., P. C. Rasmussen, T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, A. Spencer, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, M. Smith, and C. L. Wood. 2025. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2025. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ retrieved 3 November 2025
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Rising, J. D. (2020). Greater Antillean Bullfinch (Melopyrrha violacea), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.grabul1.01 retrieved August 29, 2026
  17. ↑ Buden, Donald W. (1986). "A new subspecies of Greater Antillean bullfinch Loxigilla violacea from the Caicos Islands with notes on other populations". Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club. 106. British Ornithologists’ Club: 156–161. Retrieved August 29, 2026.
  18. 1 2 3 4 Raffaele, Herbert; Wiley, James; Garrido, Orlando; Keith, Allan; Rafaele, Janice (2003). Birds of the West Indies. Princeton Field Guides. Princeton University Press. pp. Plate 90. ISBN 0-691-11319-X.
  19. ↑ Check-list of North American Birds (7th ed.). Washington, D.C.: American Ornithologists' Union. 1998. p. 596.
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