Antillean Euphonia (Chlorophonia musica)

Antillean Euphonia

Description

The Antillean euphonia (Chlorophonia musica) is a bird species in the finch family, Fringillidae (formerly in Thraupidae). It is found in all the main islands of the Lesser Antilles, as well as Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti) and Puerto Rico. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, and heavily degraded former forest.

Distribution And Habitat

The Antillean Euphonia occurs on Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, and many of the islands throughout the eastern Caribbean (Oberle 2018). It is a resident species in Puerto Rico (Raffaele 1989a), where it is common in mountain forests, the northern karst region, and dry forests within the southwestern area (Ventosa- Febles and others 2005). On Vieques, the species is described as a rare former breeder for which an attempted re- introduction failed to re-establish the species (Gemmill 2015). This species inhabits mountain forests, shade coffee plantations, lowland dry scrub forests (Oberle 2018), and the dry hills of the south coast up to the rainy dwarf forest at the highest elevations (Raffaele 1989a). The Antillean Euphonia feeds heavily on the fruits of mistletoes (Loranthaceae), hemiparasitic plants found on trees. The availability of these fruits may infl uence the species distribution. The atlas fieldwork yielded a total of 273 records within 185 hexagons or 39 percent of the 479 total hexagons (see map). Of the 185 hexagons where this species was found, breeding met the atlas definition of confirmed in 4 percent (7) of the hexagons, probable in 17 percent (31), and possible in 79 percent (146), while the species was observed in 1 percent (1) of the hexagons but without evidence of breeding (see map). The species was not found on Vieques and Culebra during atlas surveys. Antillean Euphonia distribution. The map shows the highest breeding code by hexagon and overlaying the ecological life zones in Puerto Rico. Note: percentages may not total 100 due to rounding. 255Antillean Euphonia/Jilguero

Breeding Habits

The Antillean Euphonia is a diurnal species that nests on trees or among vines, epiphytes, or forest palms from January to July, according to previously published reports (Oberle 2018). Atlas results show that Antillean Euphonia breeding activity extends throughout the year but is most active from March to June, with a peak in June (see chart). This seasonal pattern of Antillean Euphonia breeding appears to coincide in each of the life zones with no evidence to suggest breeding times differ among the life zones. Results show that the Antillean Euphonia mostly breeds within the subtropical moist forest life zone (49 percent of the hexagons). Breeding for this species was also reported for the subtropical wet and lower montane wet forest life zones (39 percent of the hexagons), the subtropical dry forest life zone (12 percent of the hexagons), and for only one hexagon (1 percent of hexagons) in the subtropical rain and lower montane rain forest life zones (see table and map).

Conservation

The Antillean Euphonia is listed as a species of least concern by the IUCN (BirdLife International 2017). Locally, this species is not listed in any of the threatened categories of PRDNER and USFWS. In Puerto Rico, the Antillean Euphonia has a protected habitat in land of 14 percent or 604 km2 of the total area covered by the hexagons where evidence of breeding was found for this species (4402 km2).