Spindalises | Spindalidae

Spindalissen | Spindalis

The spindalises are a small family almost entirely confined to the Caribbean. In the region only the Western Spindalis occurs, with a subspecies of its own on Cozumel Island off the coast of Yucatán, while elsewhere the species lives in the Bahamas, Cuba and the Cayman Islands. The birds were formerly counted among the tanagers but form an old Caribbean family of their own. They are sturdy songbirds with a short, conical bill. The male is boldly patterned, with a black head striped white above and below the eye, an orange-yellow breast and nape, an olive or brownish back and black wings edged with white; the female is plain olive-grey with faint head markings. Spindalises live in forest, scrub and gardens and eat mainly fruit and berries, including figs, supplemented with buds, flowers and insects. They are often quiet and unobtrusive in the foliage, giving high, thin calls and a thin song. The nest is an open cup of plant material in a tree or shrub.