# Antillean Euphonia

Scientific name: Chlorophonia musica

Bird group: [finch](https://birdsofpuertorico.com/family/finch)

Canonical source: https://birdsofpuertorico.com/bird/264/Antillean-Euphonia

## Identification

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

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). 

Photo: https://birdsofpuertorico.com/static/images/webp/in_264_Im0.png.webp

Distribution map: https://birdsofpuertorico.com/static/images/webp/in_264_Im1.png.webp

Source note: Text is reproduced from this site's published record. Historical conservation statements and taxonomy have not been independently revalidated. See https://birdsofpuertorico.com/about for source credits and limitations.