A Laysan Finch



Image ID: anim0441, NOAA's Ark (Animals) Collection
Location: Laysan Island, Hawaiian Archipelago, Pacific Ocean
Photo Date: 1969 June
Photographer: Dr. James P. McVey, NOAA Sea Grant Program


Photo Source:
The NOAA Photo Library http://www.photolib.noaa.gov
The National Oceanic & Atmospheric Adminstration (NOAA) http://www.noaa.gov/



Comments
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The Laysan finch (Telespiza cantans) is a species of Hawaiian honeycreeper that is endemic to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. It is one of four remaining finch-billed Hawaiian honeycreepers and is closely related to the smaller Nihoa finch. The Laysan finch is named after Laysan Island, where it was first discovered. The male Laysan finches have yellow plumage with a whitish belly and a grey neck, while the females are duller with brown streaking. The Laysan finch is a generalist, feeding on seeds, small insects, fruit, carrion, and the eggs of nesting seabirds. It nests in vegetation, laying three eggs in a cup-shaped nest.
Order: Passeriformes > Family: Fringillidae > Subfamily: Carduelinae > Genus: Telespiza > Species: Telespiza cantans