Lesser Antillean Saltator

© Stephen Gast

© Arne Thelin

Birdfinding.info ⇒  Generally common on all four of its native islands.  Often present on the grounds of tourist resorts, and readily found at all or most of the frequently visited natural sites on each of the islands.

Lesser Antillean Saltator

Saltator albicollis

Family: Thraupidae

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

Voice.  Songs are variable, sometimes complex phrases composed of about four to ten slurred whistles, most falling, but some rising:

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.)