FINCHforum

Hi all!
It's been a long time since I've posted here. I was hoping you all could help me ID a finch I've seen in the wild here. I recently got accepted to the Ross School of Vet Med on the island of St. Kitts. Wow is it pretty here! I've seen bananaquits (flirting, doing a little dance and singing SO cute!) what I think are king birds, some sort of black hummingbird (which I can't get a pic of to save my life!) doves which sound like mourning doves but are different coloured, cattle egrets galore (including a nesting colony) and a little black finch. It's the little finch I was wondering about, he's all black with a patch of red on his throat, the female is unremarkable plain brownish. If anyone might know what he is that'd be great! Also if anyone knows of a good bird id book for the Caribbean that'd be great too! Here's a pic of the little guy:
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o265 ... kfinch.jpg
Thanks all!
Thalia

Can't help you with the bird id or a good book, but wanted to congratulate you on your acceptance to the vet med school! How wonderful to be in St. Kitts in the middle of winter.

thanks Sally! I admit, that even though it's rainy and cold (for here) today I'd still rather be here than back home where it's -40

Show off! Vet school in St Kitts - CONGRATS! I was there about 2 years ago - nice little town. Nice to have you back posting, too!

I fell in love with the bananaquits in the Caribbean. My friends thought I was crazy as I ran around trying to identify who/what was singing. They're bold little things considering how tiny they are! I'd say the black bird is a Lesser Antillean Bullfinch:

Lesser Antillean Bullfinch

I just checked my birding books and don't seem to have any good ones on the Caribbean - I'll check around online and see if there's anything since I would also love to get a good one (unless somebody here knows of one!!).

"Birds of the West Indies" seemed to get great reviews on Amazon, and is a really reasonable price:

Birds of the West Indies

gee thanks Hilary! I believe you're right, they are lesser antilean bullfinches! They're really cute and appartently quite territorial.
I'm going to have to put that book on my b-day wishlist too.
Yeah I really like the island, I love not having to bundle up and lace winter boots, I just throw on a pair of capris, a t-shirt or tank top and slip into my sandals and I'm dressed and ready for classes! I've even got a bit of a tan, which is exciting for me, I usually burn then peel back to white.
Aren't the bananaquits too cute? Nice little song too.
We've got a bunch of lizards too mostly anoles on the island, SO cute!
Here's a link to my online photoalbum, lost of shots of the island and campus and so forth. http://s122.photobucket.com/albums/o265 ... 82/School/
I'm really enjoying school too! it's nice to finally be achieving my dream of becoming a vet, after 3 rejections from the school in Canada where I was able to apply.

the doves are zenaida doves, also known as mourning doves, so you were right the first time. LOL

OOH do you know what the itty bitty doves are called? they're like half the size of the zenaida, and SO cute!