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Southern-Grosbeak canary

Crithagra buchanani (Serinus buchanani)

Geographical distribution and habitat

Crithagra buchanani can be found in the south from Kenya and the north from Tanzania, East-Africa, near to the equator, where the days and nights are nearly the same length and which has a tropical climate. The Southern-Grosbeak Canary is sometimes considerd as a subspecies from the regular Northern-Grosbeak Canary (Crithagra donaldsoni). Crithagra buchanani lives in dry savannas and grasslands with scattered trees and thorny bushes, which has very few months with rain, and temps mostly over 20°C (68 F).

Size: 15cm (5.9 inch) 
Noting that the size of these birds is bigger than the Northern-Grosbeak Canary (Crithagra donaldsoni)

Description and subspecies

Males as well as females of Crithagra buchanani show a greenish colour; the females show striping at the flank (side), the male nearly does. From the Northern-Grosbeak Canary (Crithagra donaldsoni) the female shows a grey chest and a clear striping at the chest and flanks. Further differences between the males from the Southern and Northern-Grosbeak are a.m. the more yellow colour and the more pronounced head-designing from Crithagra donaldsoni. Also, Crithagra buchanani shows a more green colour than Crithagra donaldsoni.

Details

Both, Southern and Northern-Grosbeak Canary have a light coloured beak going to light mauve in colour. This colour is different from the horn coloured beak from the Bully Seedeater who also sometimes has a more dark upper beak. C. buchanani and C. donaldsoni can be confused with the Bully Seedeater (C. sulphurata subspecies), however the Northern and the Southern-Grosbeak Canarys have a more heavy beak. It is not known if these Grosbeak Canarys are imported regularly. Not to exclude is, that these Grosbeak Canarys then have been seen as on from the subspecies from Bully Seedeaters (C. sulphurata). The beak is adapted to the feeding. The Southern-Grosbeak Canary belongs to the Crithagra species which also eat small sunflower seads and coarser seeds. They can also be kept on a mixture for Goldfinches and will eat along with this and probably enjoy, fruit, berries and insects.

(23-10-2019)