Celebrate the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival (CEBF) with us! Our theme in 2022 is “Loving Birds is Human Nature”. Have fun learning about a new endemic bird every day. We have colouring pages, puzzles, activities, and more. Download for free and enjoy nature with your family at home.
Endemic Bird of the Day: Puerto Rican Spindalis
If you need a source of inspiration to start your day with a smile, then look no further than the Puerto Rican Spindalis (Spindalis portoricensis)—Reina Mora in Spanish. At dawn, males sing a simple, yet sweet, song from the treetops. When spotted, the striking and colorful plumage of the males is enough to stop you in your tracks. He has a black head with two bold white stripes, contrasting with a fiery-orange neck collar and throat that turns bright yellow down the chest and belly. The back is green and the wings and tail are grayish-black. Females are mostly olive-green, with faint streaking on the chest and drab whitish stripes on the head. The lack of bright colors on the female’s plumage is actually an advantage during the nesting season, providing camouflage during incubation in the nest.
The Puerto Rican Spindalis builds a cup-shaped nest, somewhat similar to a dove’s nest, on a fork at the tip of a high branch, usually hidden by leaves, making it difficult to find. Females lay 2 to 4 light blue eggs with brownish speckling on the wide end. Chicks fledge about a month after egg-laying and remain with the parents for a few weeks.
Their diet consists of fruits and small arthropods (e.g.., insects, spiders, worms, etc.). Small fruits are eaten whole, digesting the pulp but not the seeds. The seeds are then dispersed throughout their forest and urban habitats, making the species an important seed disperser. Larger fruits are no match for its short, yet strong, beak that it uses to rip the skin and expose the nutritious pulp. Many other species of animals benefit from this to get a free meal.
The Puerto Rican Spindalis is a single-island endemic, restricted to the largest island of the Puerto Rican archipelago, where it is widely distributed from coastal forests to the highest peaks, at 1,338 meters. Normally, they forage in pairs in their fiercely defended territories, but sometimes may be seen in small flocks, likely consisting of the parents and their recently fledged young.
The Puerto Rican Spindalis is a member of the family Spindalidae, a group formed by four Caribbean endemic species: 1. Western Spindalis (S. zena) of The Bahamas, Cuba, Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, and Cozumel Island (off Mexico); 2. Jamaican Spindalis (S. nigricephala) restricted to Jamaica; 3. Hispaniolan Spindalis (S. dominicensis) of Hispaniola; and 4. Puerto Rican Spindalis.
Although the population size of this species has not been quantified, the population trend is believed to be stable and the Puerto Rican Spindalis is listed as “Least Concern” by the IUCN.
When you visit Puerto Rico, be sure to head out early in the morning to a forest or urban woodland park and, most likely, you’ll be rewarded with the wonderful sounds and stunning beauty of this ecologically important Puerto Rican endemic bird. Learn more about this species, including its range, photos, and calls here.
Colour in the Puerto Rican Spindalis
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 Puerto Rican Spindalis
The high-pitched song of the Puerto Rican Spindalis is a repeated series of three notes, “seet-see-seee, seet-see seee, seet-see-seee”
Puzzle of the Day
Click on the images 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: What facts can you remember about todays endemic bird – the Puerto Rican Spindalis? Test your knowledge by filling in the missing words in each of our Puerto Rican Spindalis facts! We have given you the correct words but can you put them into the right fact? You can re-read the information all about this bird above, or search on the BirdsCaribbean webpages for lots more information about the Puerto Rican Spindalis! Then, when you have completed all the sentences, you can check your answers here.
FOR KIDS AND ADULTS: Enjoy this video of a male Puerto Rican Spindalis in the wild! This colourful Caribbean endemic can be found in urban areas and university campuses, as well as the more traditional woodland and forested habitats!
Don’t forget that our joint conference with the American Ornithological Society is happening soon! We’ve teamed up with local hosts Para La Naturaleza and Sociedad Ornitológica Puertorriqueña to bring you an exciting conference you won’t want to miss. This is all taking place in San Juan from June 27 – July 2, so get ready to wing your way over to beautiful Puerto Rico! The conference will bring together ornithologists, wildlife professionals, educators, students, and others to share information and learn about the latest research and innovative initiatives to conserve birds and their habitats. Read more about it by following the link below.