I photographed this stunning Saffron Finch Sicalis flaveola whilst visiting the incredible collection of Jacobo Lacs in Panama back in 2011. It was such a beautiful finch, that it really caught my eye despite being in a very large planted aviary that also housed various hummingbirds, tanagers, Andean Cock-of-the-rocks and numerous other incredible species.
My question to the Aussie finchos is: Do we have this species in Australian aviculture? I have seen Saffron Finches advertised on a few occasions, are they the same as this example?
Cheers, Simon.
We do indeed have Saffron’s, but in small numbers. The ones I’ve seen are not as vibrantly coloured as your Panama pic.
Thanks for the info! I’m not sure if there are different subspecies, which might explain the difference in colour?
Yes the ones which are left here now are the pelzelni subspecies. The brighter nominate ones were available here in limited numbers up until the early/mid 1970s.
Some of the nominate ones had an orange eyebrow mark too. I'm not sure if that was another subspecies, sexual feature or just natural variation.