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Lesser Antillean Saltator
Saltator albicollis
Endemic to the central Lesser Antilles: Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, and St. Lucia, where it is generally common in various wooded habitats, including humid and dry forests, second-growth, and gardens.
Identification
The only saltator in its range and therefore unmistakable: a very large finch with olive-green upperparts, subtly streaked grayish underparts, prominent but thin white eyebrows, and a white throat bordered by black whisker streaks.
The large, thick bill is straw-yellow at the base and tip, with a broad, blackish band in the middle.
Lesser Antillean Saltator. (Quilesse Forest Reserve, St. Lucia; March 29, 2015.) © Joelle Buffa Clyde Morris
Lesser Antillean Saltator. (Fond Doux, St. Lucia; January 3, 2020.) © Ryan Zucker
Lesser Antillean Saltator. (Pigeon Island National Park, St. Lucia; April 9, 2011.) © Guy Poisson
Lesser Antillean Saltator. (Quilesse Forest Reserve, St. Lucia; March 29, 2015.) © Joelle Buffa Clyde Morris
Lesser Antillean Saltator. (La Caravelle Nature Reserve, Martinique; April 30, 2016.) © anthonycarole
Lesser Antillean Saltator. (La Caravelle Nature Reserve, Martinique; May 1, 2019.) © Essy_M
Lesser Antillean Saltator. (Rodney Bay, St. Lucia; February 27, 2019.) © Bob Curry
Lesser Antillean Saltator. (Corinth, St. Lucia; December 29, 2018.) © Tom Younkin
Lesser Antillean Saltator. (Sainte-Anne, Martinique; March 19, 2018.) © Erika Mitchell
Lesser Antillean Saltator. (Praslin, St. Lucia; February 27, 2020.) © Blake Matheson
Lesser Antillean Saltator. (Cap Maison Resort, Gros Islet, St. Lucia; March 19, 2021.) © Chris George
Lesser Antillean Saltator. (Corinth, St. Lucia; December 29, 2018.) © Tom Younkin
Lesser Antillean Saltator. (Dominica; August 20, 2012.) © John Richardson
Notes
Polytypic species consisting of two recognized subspecies: guadelupensis on Guadeloupe and Dominica, and albicollis on Martinique and St. Lucia. Formerly considered conspecific with the Streaked Saltator (striatipectus) of continental Central and South America.
References
BirdLife International. 2016. Saltator albicollis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T22723907A94840155. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22723907A94840155.en. (Accessed June 22, 2021.)
eBird. 2021. eBird: An online database of bird distribution and abundance. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, N.Y. http://www.ebird.org. (Accessed June 22, 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 Saltator – Saltator albicollis. https://www.xeno-canto.org/species/Saltator-albicollis. (Accessed June 22, 2021.)