Tropical Audubon Society

South Florida’s Voice of Conservation

When Noah Frade photographed a second Western Spindalis yesterday (12/2) near the female that I photographed on 12/1, he noted a difference in plumage. Some observers' comments on eBird that the second bird is a "young male" so I sent both photographs to Caribbean expert paleo-ornithologist William Suarez for his opinion. William comments:

"The Western Spindalis is a highly variable bird, especially female (and its supercilium and submoustachial stripe). Also, people confuse young males with females. So, 1) bird # 2 is clearly a female (young males always have well-defined white supercilium); 2) the yellow tint on breast and chin show that probably it is an adult, old female. I think it is an adult female from the Northern Bahamas, from where La Sagra's and other birds often visit Florida. Remember that hurricane Matthew recently affected the Bahama islands, especially, some of the Northern islands. After breeding, some individuals of a bird population usually expand to some other territories and if food availability is abruptly minimized, the movement is even more intense."

William also notes that we should be on the lookout for other (Northern) Bahamas vagrants, especially those that eat small fruit. Heads-up, everyone!