Celebrate the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF) with us! Our theme in 2024 is “Protect Insects, Protect Birds”—highlighting the importance of protecting insects for birds and our environment. Have fun learning about a new endemic bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy learning about and celebrating nature!
Endemic Bird of the Day: St. Lucia Black Finch
Known locally as the ‘Moisson Pied-blanc,’ the spectacular St. Lucia Black Finch is endemic to the eastern Caribbean island of Saint Lucia! Though it resembles the Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, which can also be spotted on Saint Lucia, this finch cannot be mistaken for its cousin as it boasts distinct field marks and calls.
Male St. Lucia Black Finches have jet-black plumage with pale pink legs, while the females sport brown upperparts and brownish-gray underparts paired with a gray crown and pale pink legs which explains the “Pied-blanc” part of its local name. Females and immature birds look alike. The similarly sized Lesser Antillean Bullfinch also sports a sleek all-black coat. But its red throat and patches above the eyes will help you to distinguish it from the St. Lucia Black Finch. It also twitches its tail from left to right while perched unlike the St. Lucia Black Finch which bobs its tail up and down.
Be sure to observe as well the St. Lucia Black Finch’s thick, large bill! This heavy bill is perfect for its diet of insects, fruits (mostly berries) and seeds which it finds in the understory. Its habitat includes both the dry forest and the rainforest. Though they can be seen alone, they are more often in pairs. The female lays two white eggs with brownish-red spots in a spherically shaped nest of twigs, located in a palm or shrub about three meters above ground, between November and June.
The call is a high “tseea-ts-ts-tsew” and a slightly squeaky “tsip!” Emphasis is placed on the second and last notes in a similar fashion to the Bananaquit.
Unfortunately, this endemic finch is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Its estimated population range is between 250 and 999 individuals. One of its major threats is habitat conversion for agriculture and tourist amenities. Other threats it faces include the clearing of the understory in commercial woodlands like timber plantations and predation by invasive species like rats and mongooses. This species will benefit from the protection of dry forests on the island which are usually targeted for development associated with tourism. There is also a need to continue public awareness and engagement to increase local support for the conservation of this bird and other wildlife found within the same habitats in Saint Lucia.
Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here. Great news! If you’re in the Caribbean, thanks to BirdsCaribbean, you have free access to Birds of the World and you can find out even more in the full species account of this bird!
Thanks to Arnaldo Toledo for the illustration and Jeanette Victor for the text!
Colour in the St. Lucia Black Finch
Download our West Indies Endemic Bird colouring page. Use the photos below as your guide, or you can look up pictures of the bird online or in a bird field guide if you have one. Share your coloured-in page with us by posting it online and tagging us @BirdsCaribbean #CEBFfromthenest
Listen to the song of the St. Lucia Black Finch
The song of the St. Lucia Black Finch is a blurry “tick-zwee-swisiwis-you” .
Puzzle of the Day
Click on the image below to do the puzzle. You can make the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like – for example, 6, 8, or 12 pieces for young children, all the way up to 1,024 pieces for those that are up for a challenge!
Activity of the Day
FOR KIDS : Can you find the words in our St. Lucia Black Finch word search? Read the text above all about this endemic bird to remind yourself of some of the interesting facts and information, as you look for all 15 hidden words!
Remember the words appear forwards and backwards, as are horizontal, vertical and diagonal! Need some help? Or want to check your answers? You can see where all the words were here.
FOR KIDS AND ADULTS : Enjoy this video of a St. Lucia Black Finch in the wild!
Take a virtual tour across St. Lucia, Dominica, St. Vincent, and Trinidad in search of Amazon parrots!