Birdfinding.info ⇒ Common and familiar throughout the Lesser Antilles. Often attends feeders and dining tables. In the Virgin Islands, it is especially common on St. John, uncommon on St. Thomas, St. Croix, and Jost Van Dyke, and rare or sporadic elsewhere in the British Virgin Islands.
Lesser Antillean Bullfinch
Loxigilla noctis
Endemic to the Lesser Antilles from the Virgin Islands to Grenada, where it is generally common in wooded and scrub habitats, gardens, and towns—highly tolerant of human development.
Traditionally divided into eight subspecies : ridgwayi on St. Croix, St. Thomas, St. John, Anguilla, St Martin, Antigua, and Barbuda (and vagrant to Puerto Rico); coryi on Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Kitts, Nevis, and Montserrat; desiradensis on La Désirade (east of Guadeloupe); dominicana on Guadeloupe, Isle des Saintes, Marie-Galante, and Dominica; noctis on Martinique; sclateri on St. Lucia; crissalis on St. Vincent; and grenadensis on Grenada. Populations on the Grenadines apparently remain unassigned to a particular subspecies.
Identification
A smallish bullfinch that often seems unafraid of humanity, hopping on tables and cleaning up seeds and crumbs.
Male is black or charcoal-gray overall with a rufous-chestnut throat and supraloral mark.
Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, L. n. ridgwayi, male. (Galley Bay, St. John’s, Antigua; April 17, 2019.) © Warren Lynn
Males from the Leeward Islands south to Guadeloupe typically have a chestnut vent, whereas those from islands south of Guadeloupe are typically blacker and lack the chestnut vent—but there seem to be exceptions, with some northerly birds that lack the chestnut vent.
Depending on the lighting, these markings may appear red, orange, chestnut-brown, or anywhere in between.
Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, L. n. dominicana, male. (Guadeloupe; March 4, 2018.) © Jacques Popinet
Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, L. n. coryi, male showing rufous-chestnut undertail coverts. (Timothy Beach, St. Kitts; March 3, 2018.) © Steven Mlodinow
Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, L. n. ridgwayi, male. (Christian Valley, Antigua; October 21, 2017.) © Jeff Gerbracht
Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, L. n. dominicana, male showing all-black undertail coverts. (St. George, Dominica; January 21, 2014.) © Pat Hare
Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, L. n. sclateri, male showing black undertail coverts. (Des Cartiers Rainforest Trail, St. Lucia; February 6, 2019.) © Marie Royer
Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, L. n. sclateri, male. (Fond Doux, St. Lucia; January 3, 2020.) © Ryan Zucker
Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, L. n. dominicana, male. (Syndicate Trail, Dominica; March 1, 2020.) © Blake Matheson
Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, L. n. ridgwayi, male. (Barbuda; March 29, 2019.) © Jeff Gerbracht
Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, L. n. sclateri, male. (Marigot Bay, St. Lucia; March 2, 2015.) © Aaron Michael
Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, L. n. grenadensis, male with a trace of chestnut on the undertail coverts. (Coyaba Beach Resort, St. George’s, Grenada; February 28, 2011.) © Mikko Pyhälä
Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, L. n. coryi, male. (St. Kitts; February 5, 2013.) © David Ely
Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, L. n. sclateri, male. (Windjammer Landing Villa Beach Resort, Gros Islet, St. Lucia; December 27, 2018.) © Tom Younkin
Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, L. n. dominicana, male. (Ravine Pommes, Dominica; May 18, 2019.) © heliastes21
Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, L. n. dominicana, male. (Cascade aux Ecrevisses, Guadeloupe; November 16, 2016.) © Charles Gates
Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, L. n. noctis, male. (Route de Balata, Martinique; November 21, 2018.) © Becke Sawatzky
Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, L. n. ridgwayi, male. (Galley Bay, St. John, Antigua; January 7, 2013.) © Douglas Faulder
Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, L. n. noctis, male. (Martinique; April 2007.) © Jean-Michel Fenerole
Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, L. n. ridgwayi, male. (Barbuda; March 29, 2019.) © Jeff Gerbracht
Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, L. n. sclateri, female and male. (Corinth, St. Lucia; March 14, 2012.) © Jason Hedlund
Females have grayish underparts and brownish upperparts, usually with rusty highlights in the wings and buffy or cinnamon undertail coverts.
Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, L. n. sclateri, female. (Windjammer Landing Villa Beach Resort, Gros Islet, St. Lucia; December 27, 2018.) © Tom Younkin
Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, L. n. ridgwayi, female. (Salines d’Orient, St. Martin; March 26, 2018.) © Steven Mlodinow
Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, L. n. grenadensis, female. (Grenada; February 16, 2009.) © Mikko Pyhälä
Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, L. n. coryi, female. (Majors Bay Pond, St. Kitts; March 6, 2018.) © Steven Mlodinow
Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, L. n. ridgwayi, female. (Galley Bay, St. John’s, Antigua; April 17, 2019.) © Warren Lynn
Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, L. n. noctis, female. (Petite Anse, Martinique; January 8, 2016.) © Annika Lindqvist
Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, L. n. noctis, female. (Martinique; April 2007.) © Jean-Michel Fenerole
Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, L. n. sclateri, female. (Des Cartiers Rainforest Trail, St. Lucia; February 6, 2019.) © Marie Royer
Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, L. n. coryi, female. (Saba; March 13, 2018.) © Terence Zahner
Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, L. n. ridgwayi, female. (Saint John’s, Antigua; April 5, 2014.) © Ben Lucking
Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, L. n. sclateri, female. (Soufrière Hot Springs, St. Lucia; April 25, 2009.) © Mikko Pyhälä
Immatures are generally similar to females, except that immature males gradually acquire the adult males’ chestnut markings.
Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, L. n. dominicana, male, apparently molting into adult plumage (note brown in wing and weak chestnut in throat). (Cascade aux Ecrevisses, Guadeloupe; March 4, 2018.) © Brian Sullivan
Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, L. n. dominicana, male, apparently molting into adult plumage (note brown in wing and weak chestnut in throat). (Cascade aux Ecrevisses, Guadeloupe; November 18, 2014.) © Charles Gates
Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, immature male. (St. David, Grenada; December 15, 2017.) © Larry Therrien
Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, L. n. sclateri, immature male showing early traces of chestnut throat and supraloral mark. (Castries, St. Lucia; May 31, 2010.) © Marvelyn Dias
Cf. Greater Antillean Bullfinch. Greater Antillean and Lesser Antillean Bullfinches are very similar. They do not occur together naturally, but Lesser Antillean is a notably tame species whose habits could lead to inter-island transport via cruise ship.
The male Lesser Antillean strongly resembles Greater Antilleans of both sexes, with the principal differences being the size of the bill and the length of the chestnut eyebrows. Greater Antillean’s bill is usually larger, with a deeper base, and its brows are thicker and longer, extending behind the eye. Greater Antillean is somewhat larger and more elongated than Lesser Antillean. Both species are variable and there may be some overlap in bill size.
Cf. St. Lucia Black Finch. Female Lesser Antillean Bullfinch can be mistaken for female St. Lucia Black Finch, which differs in having a grayish head, whitish throat, pale-brown or buffy underparts, and pink legs.
Notes
Polytypic species consisting of eight recognized subspecies: ridgwayi, coryi, desiradensis, dominicana, noctis, sclateri, crissalis, and grenadensis. Formerly regarded as conspecific with Barbados Bullfinch (barbadensis).
References
BirdLife International. 2018. Loxigilla noctis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T22734677A132183438. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22734677A132183438.en. (Accessed March 26, 2021.)
eBird. 2021. eBird: An online database of bird distribution and abundance. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, N.Y. http://www.ebird.org. (Accessed March 26, 2021.)
Kirwan, G.M., A. Levesque, M. Oberle, and C.J. Sharpe. 2019. Birds of the West Indies. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
Raffaele, H., J. Wiley, O. Garrido, A. Keith, and J. Raffaele. 1998. A Guide to the Birds of the West Indies. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.
Xeno-Canto. 2021. Lesser Antillean Bullfinch – Loxigilla noctis. https://www.xeno-canto.org/species/Loxigilla-noctis. (Accessed March 26, 2021.)