Cuban grassquit

Phonipara canora. Male. I think this is a new species at the zoo. I was surprised how small they are.

@gentle lemur Is this not a Cuban finch?

@Terry Thomas - Cuban Finch is the same as Cuban Grassquit. In NZ and Australia they are always Cuban Finches (I used to keep them a long time ago).

The genus has always been Tiaris but it may be Phonipara now? The IUCN has it as the latter but I can't see anything to say why, and it doesn't seem to be used much elsewhere except in very old sources.

@Chlidonias Thanks for the info. I have always known them as Cubans.

@Chlidonias My general rule is to use the scientific name quoted first by Zootierliste, where Tiaris canorus is given as a synonym. I am a little more flexible with trivial names because alternatives are so common, but in this case Ztl uses the name I am familiar with.

@gentle lemur I agree that scientific names should be used for positive identification. I seldom use them as I find that most of the population have no idea what I am talking about!