Sharp-beaked ground finch

Sharp-beaked ground finch
Female, Genovesa Island
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Passeriformes
Family:Thraupidae
Genus:Geospiza
Species: G. difficilis
Binomial name
Geospiza difficilis
Sharpe, 1888

The sharp-beaked ground finch (Geospiza difficilis) is a species of bird in the Darwin's finch group of the tanager family Thraupidae. It is classified as a least-concern species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and it is native to the Galápagos Islands in Ecuador.[1] It has a mass of around 20 grams (0.71 oz) and the males have black plumage, while females have streaked brown plumage.[2] This finch was described by Richard Bowdler Sharpe in 1888.[3]

This relatively small, slender-billed finch is endemic to the Galápagos Islands, where it is found on Fernandina, Santiago, Pinta, Genovesa, Darwin, and Wolf Islands.[2] On the first three islands, it breeds in the humid highlands and disperses afterwards, but on the remaining smaller and lower islands the sharp-beaked ground finch is found in the arid zone year-round. Due to habitat destruction its range has decreased. It was formerly also present in the highlands of several other islands, and it is possible it still occurs on Isabela.[2]

Both the vampire ground finch and the Genovesa ground finch were considered subspecies. The International Ornithologists' Union have split them, while other taxonomic authorities still consider them conspecific.

References

  1. 1 2 BirdLife International (2012). "Geospiza difficilis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 Sharp-beaked ground finch media at ARKive
  3. ↑ "Geospiza difficilis". Avibase. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
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