Spindalis zena (Linnaeus, 1758)

Diet Composition

Spindalis zena (Linnaeus, 1758) eats insects, larvae, and fruit.

Foraging Techniques

These birds use two distinct foraging techniques to get fruit: gleaning (plucking fruit directly from its source) and hovering.

Foraging Height

They typically search for food at medium to high heights above the ground.

General Distribution

This species is distributed across southeastern Florida and the western Caribbean, including Cozumel, the Cayman Islands, Cuba, the Bahamas, and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Florida Occurrence

It is a rare visitor to extreme southern Florida, where the subspecies S. z. zena successfully bred in 2009.

General Habitat

Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forest, and heavily degraded former forest.

Subspecies Habitat

The subspecies S. z. zena lives in pine forest and perches on fruit trees.

Movement and Lifespan

Spindalis zena is a nonmigratory bird with a recorded average lifespan of 3.29 years.