Saffron Finch (Sicalis flaveola flaveola) 9 January 2020. Hokuala Golf Course (formerly Kauai Lagoons Golf Course), Kauai County, Hawaii, USA.
Saffron Finch (Sicalis flaveola)
Not a true finch, but actually a tanager. This is a male. Females are similar but lack the orange face. In Southern South America the females are very different from the brightly colored males being dull brown and streaked. These birds sometimes go under the name "Pelzeln's Finch," The two populations are widely separated and it has been suggested that more than one species may be involved. Saffron Finch was introduced on Oahu and Hawaii (the big island) in the 1960s. Here in Kauai, the species was first noticed in 2004 and thought to be from additional local releases rather than natural dispersal from other islands. Pyle & Pyle (2017) do not consider this population to be fully established. Canon PowerShot SX60 HS.

References:

Pratt, H.D., Bruner, P., and Berrett, D.G. (1987) A Field Guide to the Birds of Hawaii and the Tropical Pacific. Princeton University Press.

Pyle, R.L., and P. Pyle. 2017. The Birds of the Hawaiian Islands: Occurrence, History, Distribution, and Status. B.P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu, HI, U.S.A. Version 2 (1 January 2017) http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/birds/rlp-monograph/

Rising, J. & Jaramillo, A. (2020). Saffron Finch (Sicalis flaveola). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/node/62084 on 6 February 2020).

Saffron Finch (Sicalis flaveola), In Neotropical Birds Online (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. retrieved from Neotropical Birds Online: https://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/Species-Account/nb/species/saffin
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