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Large Tree Finch | Camarhynchus psittacula
Grote boomvink | Pinzón arbóreo grande | Tentilhão-arborícola-grande
The Large Tree Finch is the largest of the insectivorous tree finches of the Galápagos. The scientific name psittacula (little parrot) refers to its thick, curved bill. It searches tree canopies for larvae and beetles in bark and twigs.
Voice
The song is a series of a few repeated, two-syllable whistles. The call is a short, high chirp.
Recording: Eric DeFonso — CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 · xeno-canto
Identification
13 cm, with a short, thick bill with a strongly curved upper edge, like that of a small parrot. Adult males have a black head, throat and upper breast; the amount of black increases with age. The upperparts are olive-grey to olive-brown, the underparts dingy white to greyish buff. Females and young birds lack the black: the head is greyish olive, the underparts pale and faintly streaked, and the bill paler.
Confusion species
Small Tree Finch Camarhynchus parvulus is smaller, with a smaller, shorter bill. On Floreana, Medium Tree Finch Camarhynchus pauper has a bill intermediate in size between the two. Vegetarian Finch Platyspiza crassirostris is larger, with an even thicker, bulbous bill, and eats mainly buds, leaves and fruit. Ground finches (Geospiza) have a conical bill with a straighter upper edge, and the males are entirely black.
Habitat
Mainly the humid highlands with Scalesia forest and the transition zone; on some islands also woodland in the arid zone. It forages in tree canopies and on branches, where it breaks open bark and dead twigs with its bill for larvae, beetles and other insects; it also eats fruit, buds and nectar. The nest is a domed structure of grass and twigs in a tree.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of the Andes and the west coast.
Range and movements
Endemic to the Galápagos, including Santa Cruz, Santiago, Isabela, Fernandina, Pinta, Marchena, Rábida and Pinzón; scarce on Floreana. Absent from San Cristóbal, Española and Genovesa. Absent from mainland Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.
- Resident
How and when to look
In the Scalesia forest of the Santa Cruz highlands, for example at Los Gemelos, often in mixed groups with other tree finches and Woodpecker Finch Camarhynchus pallidus.
Conservation status
Vulnerable. The population is declining because of the introduced parasitic fly Philornis downsi, whose larvae attack the nestlings, and because of the loss of Scalesia forest to farming and introduced plants. Introduced rats and cats also play a part.
Scientific name
Camarhynchus psittacula | Gould, 1837
Gould described the species in 1837 and placed it straight away in the genus where it still stands. He introduced the genus Camarhynchus in that same work. The genus name combines Ancient Greek kamara, 'arch' or 'vault', and rhunkhos, 'bill'. The species name is a Latin diminutive of psittacus, 'parrot', so 'little parrot', referring to the thick bill. The specimen the first description was based on came from Galápagos Islands.